Serene Phoenix
by Mr.Oakzzz
Summary: After winning the Sinnoh League, Ash thought he had a pretty good shot at the Unova League as well. But things didn't go as planned and he got sent packing early on. Determined to not let this slow him down, Ash sets his sight on the Kalos region, where he will meet new people and Pokemon and reunite with old friends. Amourshipping/SatoSere. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Memories of Happier Times

**A/N: **_Hello Pokemon fans. I'm and welcome to Serene Phoenix. This is my first Pokemon story, so please don't kill me if I am not accustomed to this style of writing. Now before we start, I would like to make one thing clear. I have not seen all the movies or all episode from all seasons so I might not know everything about the Pokemon world. For example, I don't know what this Aura stuff is that is spread around the Pokemon community is so don't expect that to show up._

**Full Summary: **After winning the Sinnoh League, Ash was confident he could score high in the Unova League as well. However, things did not go as planned and he was eliminated much earlier than anyone thought he would be. Resolving to train harder than ever, Ash sets course for the Kalos region, where he will meet new people, old friends and new Pokemon.

**Note: **_Some things are different from canon. Up until the Unova League, things are pretty much the same but in this story, Tobias did not exist so Ash went on to win the Lily of the Valley Conference, but got defeated by Aaron, the first trainer of the Sinnoh Elite Four. His Unova journey was also pretty much the same, but he was defeated by Trip during the Unova Conference and sent packing. The travels through the Decalore Islands were the same though, so no changes there. _

_I have not seen all episodes of the canon, especially not in Unova because I found Iris so damn annoying and Cilan's evaluations bored me to death so it is possible that I might miss an important event in the past when I write this story. If that is the case, then just pretend it did not happen in this universe and keep reading. Oh, and I haven't seen all the movies either. The ones I have seen are: Mewtwo Returns, The Power of One, Mewtwo Strikes Back, The Spell of the Unknown, Destiny Deoxys, Giratina and the Sky Warrior and Arceus and the Jewel of Life. _

**Disclaimer:** I do not own this stuff.

* * *

**Chapter One: **Memories of a happier time

In his room at the second floor in a small house in a town called Pallet, a young man is sitting on his bed, staring emptily into the thin air in front of his eyes. His mind is not with him right now. Beside him, his trusted Pokemon companion Pikachu is sleeping peacefully in the bed. But 15 year old Ash Ketchum can't sleep. After lying awake for hours, he have given up the thought of sleeping and sat up, thinking about what was troubling him. His thoughts wandered back a few weeks, to the Unova League conference. He had arrived at the conference as one of the favourites to win the entire tournament. After his victory in the Lily of the Valley Conference a year earlier, he had been confident he could win this tournament as well. But things had not gone as he had planned. Instead, he had been eliminated in the quarter finals, by his rival, Trip.

_What had gone wrong?_ he wondered. _What had been so different from when he won in the Sinnoh League? _

Feeling restless and frustrated from his thoughts, Ash threw himself down onto the bed covers again and sighed. Why was this bothering him so much? It wasn't like he hadn't been sent packing in the quarter finals in earlier tournaments. Most people would be proud of making it as far as he had in this tournament. So why wasn't he?

_Because I'm not most people. _Ash thought bitterly.

Ever since he had started his journey, his league positions had gotten better and better. For 4 years, Ash had constantly grown as a trainer, placing better and better in his league positions and eventually he had won the Lily of the Valley Conference and been offered the chance of challenging the Sinnoh Elite Four. Sure, Aaron had squashed him like a bug, but at least he had gotten stronger from the year before. But now... He hadn't even made it to the semi finals. Had he gotten weaker? Or had the opposition been stronger this time? What if his win in the Sinnoh League had been a lucky shot?

Normally when he got home from a journey, he would have felt overjoyed to be home and immediately been on the look out for a new adventure. This time, he even had an adventure waiting for him. On the way home, he and his friends had met a Pokemon Journalist from the Kalos region, named Alexa. She had invited him to come along when she returned to Kalos. After seeing her to him unknown Pokemon, Ash should be all psyched up to go and find new species of pokemon he had yet to meet. So why was he feeling so down? He hadn't been this depressed since...

**_-X-Flashback-X-_**

_Ash stood in place, frozen in shock. He felt his chest constrict as he looked at the face of the tearful girl in front of him. The world seemed to slow down around them. The Machoke that was working on moving all the stuff in the house into the truck outside seemed to be moving in slow motion as Ash and Serena looked at each. The honey-blonde girl with the straw hat was looking back at him with her blue eyes filled with tears._

_"I'm sorry Ash." she whispered._

_It couldn't be. He must have heard her wrong. There was no way his best friend was moving away. There must have been some kind of mistake. These pokemon that were taking their stuff away... there had to be another explanation._

_"Serena..." he croaked, but realized his voice was trembling. He couldn't keep it steady. Suddenly, his throat felt all dry and Ash desperately tried to swallow to ease it. Wait, why did he mouth taste like salt? Why was his face wet? _

_Slowly, he lifted a hand to his cheek and touched it. Was he crying? But he never cried! He hadn't cried since he was a baby! But then again, he hadn't lost his best friend before. As he looked at the only girl he had ever felt wasn't "icky", Ash hesistantly reached out with a hand, as if he was afraid she would already have disappeared. Seeing the gesture, Serena reached out with her own hand and took his hand in hers. _

_"Forgive me Ash. I tried to tell mom that I didn't want to move, but she wouldn't hear of it. I'm so sorry." Serena's voice was trembling from her sobs. _

_The realization that he might never see Serena again hit Ash like a Tauros in full charge. He swallowed, but then he finally gave in to his emotions and pulled Serena towards him and threw his arms around her. Serena didn't even hesitate. She returned his gesture and hugged him back. For what felt like hours, the two 8-year olds hung onto each other as if their lives depended on it. Ash cried like he had never before and he felt Serena cry similarly against his shoulder. Right then, right there, Ash knew he couldn't let go. He would hold her for all eternity if he had to. They had so many things they hadn't done yet. And they still hadn't gotten out on their journey together. They promised each other that they would leave on a journey together when they became 10 years old. But even eternity doesn't last forever and eventually, Ash let go of his best friend. _

_By now, the house they were standing in had been emptied completely. It felt like a completely different without all the furniture and objects that belonged to Serena and her mother. The walls that had felt as good as home to him since he was 5 years old suddenly felt like they were closing in on him, threatening to swallow him alive. _

_"Serena! It's time to go." her mother's voice came from outside._

_The dark blonde girl hicupped when she heard her mother call for her. She gave Ash one last tearful look, before she began turning towards the door._

_"Well, I guess this is it. Thank you Ash. For everything." she said._

_Ash watched her go. She was wearing the same straw hat that she had worn the day they met, at the Summer camp 3 years ago. He had never really realized how much that hat personalized her. She had told him it was her favourite hat. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it and at times, he had even found it kind of irritating that she just had to wear that hat all the time, but now he felt like he would miss it almost as much as he would miss Serena herself. How could he have thought she was weird that day when he had found her injured in the forest? Wait... injured in the forest, that gave him an idea!_

_"Serena, wait!" he said as he tightened his grip on her wrist to stop her._

_Serena turned around with a look of sad confusion on her face. After making sure she would run away, Ash let go of her and reached inside one of his pocket to pull out a blue handkerchief._

_"Here. I want you to have this, so you will always remember me. It's the same one I used to bandage your knee back when we first met." he said as he put it in her still outstretched hand. _

_The girl gasped as she retracted her hand and looked at the cloth that had been placed in it. Why did he still have it? It was just a handkerchief. But still... she felt now that it this handkerchief would become something important to her. It was a part of her best friend. It was a symbol of their friendship, something that had linked them together since the day they first met. She wanted to give him something in return, but couldn't come up with anything. But then, she remembered how Ash had always teased her about her hat. Knowing just what she could give him, Serena took off her hat and detached the pink band that ran around its top._

_"Here. So you won't forget me either." she said as she gave Ash the pink band. _

_Ash clasped the band in his hand and felt warmth well up through his arm, from the band. Pulling it closer to his chest, he managed to smile at her, despite the situation._

_"Thanks, but I won't need it to remember you." he said as they took the last steps out to where Serena's mom was waiting in the car. _

_"Neither will I need this to remember you." Serena whispered as she climbed into the car. _

_For a moment, they just stared at each other, taking in each other's features one last time. Then, Serena took a deep breath and closed the door to the car. Sitting up straight so she could still see him, she breathed out onto the pane so it became foggy. Ash watched in sadness as Serena began drawing in the fog, forming the letters: A+S, BFF. His eyes filled with tears as he heard the motor roar to life. Seeing Serena's unsure look, he put his thumb in the air and nodded towards her. Serena barely had the time to give him one last smile before the car started moving and before they knew it, she was gone. Left behind was a sobbing 8 year old, clutching a pink band in his hands as if it were the most important thing in the entire world._

**_-X-End of Flashback-X-_**

In the present, Ash sighed as he thought back to a time before he became a trainer. It had been a long time since he had thought about those days, and even longer since he thought about Serena's departure. Man, he must really be down if he compared his current mood to the one he had been in the weeks following the loss of his best friend. Looking out through the window, he couldn't help but wonder how she was doing. He didn't even know where she lived anymore. Silently, he sits up and rises from his bed and trips over to the wardrobe, where he opens the door and reaches into the back of it. After searching for a minute, his hand finally settles on what he is looking for. A triumphant smile on his face, Ash pulls out a pink band that used to sit on a little girl's straw hat. He had kept it for all these years, but when he had left on his journey, he hadn't wanted to chance the risk of losing it.

Looking down at the band as it bathes in the moonlight that streams in from the window, Ash ponders what he should do next. What would Serena have wanted him to do? He almost laughed at his own thoughts. What a stupid question. She wouldn't have wanted him to give up, or become depressed about a single loss. She would have told him to take his own example and keep going no matter what. It had been their motto, "Never give up until the end". Smiling at the memories these thoughts brought back to him, Ash went back towards his bed and lay back down. Now he knew he would be able to sleep. Now, he knew what he would do.

**-X-X-X-**

The next day, Ash took the time to sleep in. After staying up late, he slept well until 12 o'clock. When he awoke, Alexa had already left for Professor Oak's laboratory. She had been really excited to do her interview yesterday so that wasn't really surprising. Also, sometime during the morning hours, Pikachu had gotten up and left Ash's room, obviously not wanting to disturb his trainer. And so, Ash woke up to an empty room. He briefly wondered where his rodent friend had run off to, but soon dismissed his thoughts as Pikachu probably had come with Alexa to Oak's in order to catch up with his friends there, Ash's other Pokemon. And sure enough, when Ash made his way downstairs half an hours later, the first greeting he got was:

"Morning sleepyhead. Pikachu got bored of waiting for you to wake up so he went with Alexa and Helioptile when they went over to the Oak Laboratory." his mom said.

Delia Ketchum was in the middle of preparing what appeared to be an unusually large lunch. Well, large for anyone who didn't know Ash Ketchum that was. Ash gave a greeting to his mother before sitting down by the table. Since he had missed breakfast and lunch was coming up, he figured he might as well wait so he got something to eat before heading to Oak's lab to greet his other pokemon. Thinking back, he realized that this last journey, he had caught more pokemon than he had on any earlier journey, as was evident from the fact that he had to rotate pokemon on his team.

As he thought about the word "rotation", he realized one thing he had done differently during the Unova League from the Sinnoh League. During his battles in the Lily of the Valley Conference, Ash had used all of his pokemon, both caught during that particular journey and before. Thus, his team had been much more flexible and capable of adapting to a situation. However, in the Unova Conference, he had solely used pokemon he had caught in the Unova region, with the exception of Pikachu, who always got to battle, and Charizard, who had rejoined him on his journey after years of training at the Charizific Valley. Also, it was worth noting that Charizard had not been on his team when he lost his quarter final match. Since his Unova pokemon were all freshly caught, they did not have the experience that some of his older friends did. Now that he really sat down to think about it, he realized that all the times he had actually won a league, he had used all of his current pokemon, not just the ones from the region he was currently in.

Even though his Unova team were bigger than any other single region team he had before, all of them were quite young. Particularly Scraggy was inexperienced but even Pignite, Oshawott, Leavanny, Boldore and Unfezant were quite young. If he had to estimate, he would say Snivy, Krookodile and Palpitoad were the only ones who were older than 2 years. A team needed to be balanced, combining younger pokemon with more experienced ones to create a good mix. And truth to be told, the only ones who had been travelling with him that was somewhat experienced was Pikachu and Snivy. Krookodile later on, but even he had been rotated a lot.

Wait, since when did he think about all this stuff? When did he learn all of this, he hadn't thought about stuff like this since he started his journey. Oh, he must have learned it before his journey then... Yeah, that made sense in a way. He must have learnt it during the Pokemon Summer Camp. He had tried to not think of that time since he started his journey, because that would mean thinking about Serena.

Just as he thought about that, the door opened and Alexa came into the kitchen, with Pikachu and Helioptile running around her feet. The Pokemon journalist gave Delia a happy greeting and sat down by the table opposite to Ash. Ash greeted his friend, who smiled back at him.

"It seems you're in a better mood today. How are you feeling?" she asked.

Ash opened his mouth to answer, but then he froze. How did he feel? He had been so engrossed in his own plans of what to change on his next journey that he hadn't realized that he didn't feel as depressed as he had yesterday. Thinking back, he realized he must have looked pretty miserable. But today, he felt entirerly different. He didn't feel unsure of what he wanted anymore, he knew he would leave on his next journey in a matter of days. It felt so obvious he couldn't believe he had even doubted it, no matter how sad he had been after being elimintated in the Unova League quarter finals.

"You know what? I feel great!" he said as he gave Alexa thumbs up and smiled at her.

Alexa fittered at his response and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table.

"Oh? So i guess you have decided on what you want to do next then?" she asked.

Standing by the stove, Delia was listening intently. She had been worried ever since Ash got home yesterday. It wasn't like him to be as depressed as he had been when he got home. Normally, she wouldn't be as curious about his descision as she was now, but he had said himself yesterday that perhaps he should take a break from travelling and simply try and power up his Pokemon for a year before leaving again. While she of course liked it when he was home, Delia had mixed feelings about him staying home to train. She was thrilled at the thought of spending more time with him but at the same time she felt like she didn't want him to give up travelling just because he got sent packing early in the Unova League.

"You bet! I am coming with you to the Kalos region!" Ash said as he pumped his fist into the air.

"Hah, I see. Well I am sure you will enjoy it. There are lots of pokemon there that aren't native to any other region." Alexa said with a smile.

Delia felt strangely relieved. It wasn't that she didn't want him to stay home, more like she didn't want him to stay home for the wrong reasons. If he had stayed home in order to train, then he would probably have kept dwelling on his loss and that was not a good reason to stay home in her opinion. She wanted her Ash to be spirited, hyperactive and on constant search for adventure.

With that thought, Delia declared that lunch was ready and after serving the other two occupants of the house, she sat down along with them. The three occupants of the Ketchum Residence housed mundane discussion about what Ash was thinking about his upcoming journey while they ate their meal. In her mind, Delia had already began thinking about how she wanted to make Ash's clothes for this journey look. It had become customary for her to sew a home made outfit for him for each new journey he went on.

When he was finished with lunch, Ash went up and quickly changed into his Unova gear before he went back downstairs, telling his mom that he would be back for dinner. As he ran by the table, Pikachu jumped onto his customary place on Ash's shoulder, giving off a happy "Pika!". Outside, Alexa was waiting for him. She was going back to the lab so she could do an interview with Professor Oak's closest assistant, Tracey Sketchit. On the way to the laboratory, Ash could hardly contain his excitement at seeing his friends again, both old and new. When they finally got to the lab, Ash lost his patience and ran up the stairs to the door.

**-X-X-X-**

While Ash entered the Oak Pokemon Lab, an old friend of his had just finished his lunch break and returned to the Pokemon Center where he worked. Unbeknownst to him, his old best friend was home after another long journey, the first one where he had not come along. It had not been an easy descision to stay behind, but in order to fulfill his dream of becoming a Pokemon Doctor, he needed to get a proper education and that was something he could not get if he went on travels all the time.

Now, after being home for one whole year, Brock was starting to feel restless. It wasn't that he regretted staying home, he had learnt so much during this year but at the same time, he felt like he wanted to get back on the road again. He realized now that perhaps he had never really understood how much he had enjoyed his adventures with Ash, Misty, May, Max and Dawn. Well, that wasn't entirerly true though. That he had never understood how much he would miss them were probably a better way of describing it.

"Hey Brock!"

Upon hearing his name being called by a familiar voice, he spun around to find his younger brother Forrest standing in the doorway of the Pewter City Pokemon Center. Forrest pretty much looked the same as Brock, just that he was a little shorter, but that could be downplayed to the fact that Forrest was several years younger than him.

"Hey, what's up, little brother?" Brock smiled at his younger sibling.

Forrest grinned as he walked up to his brother and predescessor as Pewter City Gym Leader. After Brock had left the first time, their father had taken care of the Gym but even back then, Forrest had been allowed to battle in the Gym. After a year, he had taken to challenging the Gym himself with his father as the leader and beaten him, earning him the right to officially take over the Gym. Since then, Forrest had been the Pewter City Gym Leader, the youngest Gym Leader in the entire of Kanto. Now, as he came up to stand in front of his older brother, Forrest couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic because of the reason for his visit to Brock's job. He usually only visited the Pokemon Center after a really tough challenger had come by the Gym.

"I was just wondering what you were planning on doing now that you have taken your final Pokemon Healer Exam?"

Surprised by the question, Brock raised an eyebrow towards his younger brother.

"What do you mean?" he asked, not sure what his brother was getting at.

Forrest just sighed and shook his head. Brock was a natural when it came to taking care of Pokemon, but in some ways, he really could be clueless. Well, not as clueless as he was when it came to how to treat a girl, but still, there were some things that came as a close up-sticker.

"What do I mean? I mean, are you gonna go on another journey now? You won't have to stay here now that your not taking those studies so why stay here?" Forrest said in exasperation.

For a moment, Brock's mind wondered to how wonderful it would be to get to go on another journey. To see new places he had never seen before, to meet new Pokemon to care for and spread his knowledge to those who needed it. But he quickly shook those thoughts away.

"Now that I have taken my exam, I am going to stay here and work at the Pokemon Center of course. It's my dream to take care of and help Pokemon and what better place to do it than here at the Pokemon center?"

Forrest had already opened his mouth to give Brock an answer, telling him to think more outside the box, but before he could utter a sound, another voice interrupted them from behind Brock.

"Is that really how you feel Brock? Then what about your wish to travel again?"

Brock froze and turned around to face Nurse Joy, who had come out from her office while they were talking. With his attention elsewhere, Forrest gave Nurse Joy an approving nodd, trying to encourage her to keep talking.

"What do you mean my wish to travel again?"

"Brock. I've seen you office. Where most people have photos of their family, you got pictures of you former travelling companions. And I have caught you sitting and staring at those pictures more times than I bother counting, completely oblivious to the world around you. I know you miss travelling with them." Nurse Joy said.

In his mind, Forrest thought that Nurse Joy really must care for Brock on a personal level. It was not often she gave out this much of her own thoughts. And what was more, it appeared she was reaching Brock as his brother seemed to melt under the intense gaze of the nurse.

"If it can help you come to your senses, I hear Ash is back in Pallet Town." Forrest supplied.

Hearing this, Brock's eyes shot open(Not literally) and he spun around towards Forrest with a shocked look on his face. Ash was back in Kanto? How come he didn't know about that?

"What? When did he get back? I thought he was in Unova?!" Brock asked.

Forrest sighed in frustration.

"Have you been _living_ with your nose stuck in that medicine study book of yours? The Unova Conference was 5 weeks ago! Ash got eliminated in the quarter finals!" Forrest told his brother.

Brock seemed to take in the fact that he had in fact missed his best friends return to their home region. Forrest let him take his time, as did Nurse Joy. Inside, Brock was in turmoil. Yeah, he did want to go out and travel again. And with Ash home again, it would be the perfect time to start a new journey and just tag along with him. It would be just like old times again. But at the same time, he felt obligated to stay here at the Pokemon Center and helping Nurse Joy.

As if she had read his mind, Nurse Joy chose this moment to walk up to the two brothers and put a hand on Brock's shoulder. Upon her touch, Brock snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at her.

"Brock, there are some things that one can only learn by experience. Travelling is a wonderful way of learning new things and extending your medical knowledge. You're still young. You will have more than enough time to work here at the Pokemon Center when you get older." she said with the trademark Nurse Joy smile.

Hearing it from Nurse Joy herself, Brock finally gave in. If Nurse Joy thought it was ok for him to leave, then it would not be a problem. And she was right, as much as Ash battled, he could probably learn a lot simply by healing his Pokemon when they got hurt. And he could probably learn a lot by travelling to other regions and study their methods of healing. Sighing as if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulder, he turned to look back at his brother, then turned towards Nurse Joy and then back again.

"Thanks. I guess I needed that." he said.

Forrest grinned at his older brother and Nurse Joy smiled a warm smile.

"Well, you got that right. You were being unusually stubborn on this, even for you." Forrest said as he smiled sheepishly at his older brother and scratched himself at the back of his head.

Laughing nervously at his brother's jab, Brock asked Nurse Joy if it would be ok for him to go back home to tell his parents about his descision. She just smiled at him and said that she was no longer his boss. Seeing that his brother had finally come to his senses, Forrest bid the two goodbye and returned to the Gym. With a feeling of happiness and freedom he hadn't felt for over a year, Brock also bid his farewell and left the Pokemon Center. However, before he got home, he decided to take an longer route to drop by the Poke Mart. He had a lot of preparations to do.

**-X-X-X-**

"Hey guys! Guess who's back!" Ash called out as he entered the meadow where his Pokemon lived while they were at Professor Oak's lab.

As soon as he did it, all the pokemon in the meadow looked up from what they were doing and stared right at him. Behind him, Alexa had to stiffle a giggle at the boy's antics, while Professor Oak just gave him an amused smile as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. For a moment, nothing happened as Ash's old friends stared at him. Then after a few seconds, the entire meadow burst into activity. Ash had barely opened his arms in a welcoming hug gesture before Bayleef tackled him to the ground, squeling in happines at his return. And soon after, his herd of Tauros had caught up with Bayeef. And then, the big purple blob known as Muk was all over him. From above, Swellow, Staraptor and Noctowl swapped down on them and landed in the heap. The only one who didn't rush to meet him was, not too surprisingly, Charizard who kept his cool, most likely not too keen in getting tangled into the mess of legs, arms, wings and other limbs that was now Ash and his pokemon.

From the doorway, Alexa and Professor Oak was watching Ash's reunion with his pokemon with amused smiles. Charizard had been sent back to the lab during Ash, Iris and Cilan's journey through the Decolore Islands, so Alexa had only met him once, but from what she had seen, Charizard was not as happy-go-lucky as the rest of Ash's pokemon. Judging by this scene, only Ash's Buizel shared Charizard reserved and proud warrior attitude. The Sea Weasel pokemon also took his time getting to Ash.

"Is this how it usually is when he gets home from a journey?" she asked the Professor.

"Oh yeah. It's just their way of showing their love for Ash." the Professor chuckled. "Over the years, Ash have built a special bond of trust and friendship with all his pokemon. Even if most don't travel with him any longer, they still love him and are willing to do anything he asks of them."

Alexa looked back to the scene in the meadow, where Ash had managed to untangle himself and was now half laughing, half talking with the group of excited Pokemon. It seemed like he was telling them all about his latest journey and as he came along the point where he had captured a new pokemon, he either released it from its pokeball or pointed it out in the group, in the case of those who had been rotated.

"Yeah, I can see that. Perhaps by this time next year, I will be doing an interview with him about the bond he shares with his pokemon." she said as she smiled at the heartwarming scene.

"Oh? I take it he have decided to go on another journey then?" Professor Oak said with a knowing smile on his face.

Alexa just nodded. By now, Ash had released the last of his pokemon and the new Unova pokemon was being introduced to all of his old ones. Oshawott was proudly showing his shell to anyone who wanted to see, Snivy had sat down with Sceptile and Pignite was currently talking to Infernape and Herracross. Scraggy, Donphan, Boldore, Bayleef and Gible had taken to playing a game of tag. Around the meadow, all of Ash's pokemon had taken to do something to include the newcomers into their circle. The sight made Alexa's smile widen.

"Yeah. He is coming back to Kalos with me." she said as she went out to join her friend and his Pokemon in the meadow.

**-X-X-X-**

In another region, in another small town, another 15 year old is not having the time of her life. Like her childhood friend, she is spending her afternoon with pokemon, more precisely on the back of a Rhyhorn. But Serena does not enjoy riding her mother's Rhyhorn. She would much rather just spend her day relaxing inside or go to the mall in the next town with her friend Shauna. But no, her mother had insisted on this being her training day. Now, she was holding onto Rhyhorn's sadle for dear life as the Spikes Pokemon was jumping around, trying to throw her off while her mother was standing by the sidelines shouting encouraging words. Or at least that's what they were supposed to be.

"Come on Serena! You can do it! Only 5 more minutes!"

5 more minutes? She had only been at this for 5 minutes?! It felt like it had been days already! Her mother must be cheating! That timer had to be rigged somehow! Why was she even doing this anyway? Just as she thought about asking Rhyhorn to stop, the Spikes Pokemon made a very quick turn to the left, causing her to lose her balance and just a few seconds later, she was sent flying with a scream and landed in front of her mother's feet. She groaned at the pain this brought to her chest. It certainly was not made for making landings like that one. When she had regained her breath, she glared up at her mother who was looking down at her with a concerned look on her face.

"Perhaps we have done enough for today?" her mom said, though she didn't wait for an answer before she reached out to help Serena to her feet.

_Oh great, now she think so. _Serena moaned mentally and thought that maybe she should learn to fall off ungracefully a bit more early on during their training sessions.

After checking so that nothing was broken and that Serena felt a bit better, Grace told her daughter that she could take the rest of the day off. There was still time for her to catch up with Shauna in Aquacorde Town if she hurried to shower and get changed. As her daughter put on her best smile and went to change out of her pink training jumpsuit, Grace sat down in the sofa. Had she been wrong to keep Serena here at home, instead of letting her go on a journey when she became 10? Of course, when Professor Sycamore had offered to give Serena her own Pokemon, they had still been new in town and Serena herself had not been too keen on going anywhere before she felt she would have a home to return to afterwards. But two years later when Serena had asked if she could go on a journey, Grace had promptly said no, hoping that her daughter would take after her and become a famous Rhyhorn Racer. At first, Serena had went along with it without protest, but lately one would need to be blind to see that this was not what her daughter wanted to do for a living. Had she been wrong to keep Serena here to keep training? It really wasn't as much Serena not being talented as it was Serena not wanting to do it for a profession. But then what did she want to do?

In her room, Serena had just finished picking out her clothes for today. She would be wearing a simple light blue shirt with a dark blue skirt, along with her black tights and black shoes with pink pokeball marks on. To top it off, she would be wearing the straw hat she used to wear as a child. The hat would go not very well with the rest of her attire, but it used to make her feel better to wear it when she felt angry or sad. It was like she felt a connection to the boy whom she had given the pink band that used to go with the hat. That usually calmed her, at least a little. And right now, she needed to feel some kind of comfort. Not that she was depressed or anything, but she was still pretty heated from her training and her chest still ached a little.

_Oh! And speaking of Ash!_ she thought as she went over to her bedside table and picked up a blue handkerchief. For a moment, she just let it rest in her hand, feeling the soft cloth against her skin. It filled her with a feeling of warmth and holding it while thinking about the one who gave it to her sent shivers down her spine. She really hoped he was doing ok.

With a sad sigh, she tied it around her wrist, like she usually did when she didn't have any pockets to keep it in. Even now, 7 years after their separation, Serena still brought the handkerchief along wherever she went. Checking her appearence in the mirror, she gave her reflection a satisfyed nod and headed on downstairs.

"Mom! I'm leaving!" she called towards the living room. When she recieved a "Have fun!" as a response, she opened the door and went to meet with Shauna.

Back in the living room, Grace was thinking about what she could do to help Serena. If her daughter didn't want to make her living by riding Rhyhorns, then that was fine with her, but Serena would still need to find something to do for a living. But whenever she asked, her daughter just shrugged, saying she didn't know what she wanted to do yet. But how long would it take her to find out what she wanted? And how would she know what there was to choose from if she never got further away from home than Aquacorde Town? Sighing, Grace reluctantly stood up and went over to the phone to dial Professor Sycamore's number. They had a lot to discuss.

* * *

**A/N: **_So, there we go. The first chapter of my first Pokemon fanfic. Now, my main story will still be Harry Potter: Hidden Prodigy. I am writing this story as a side project and because I feel that amourshipping really haven't come to its right here yet. With Ash and Serena having known each other during childhood and then reuniting for a journey together, as well as the apparent canonical crush that Serena seems to have on Ash, this shipping have so much potential._

_I hope you will enjoy reading this story as much as I will enjoy writing it. Now, I haven't played Pokemon X or Y yet so I am not completely adapted to all the new stuff in there or the geography of the Kalos region, but I hope to be able to get one of the games for christmas. And before you ask, I will not make any promises of long chapters as this is not my main focus. The only way for it to become my main focus would be for it to get more followers than my HP story and tbh I don't see that happening anytime soon. Either that or it will have to recieve and average of 20 reviews per chapter, since my HP story currently have around 15-18 per chapter atm. _

Anyway, please let me know what you think of the story so far! If you want it to recieve faster updates, don't be shy to follow, favourite and review! =)


	2. Turning a New Page

**A/N: **_Hello Pokemon fans! And welcome to a fast update of Serene Phoenix! Now, don't expect me to update every chapter this fast or I'll have to drop out of high school. Now, I wanna give a big heads up for the new poll in my profile, where you can vote for what Kalos Pokemon Ash should catch! Now, I don't wanna keep you from the story so read ahead and I'll take info stuff at the bottom! Go!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any rights to the Pokemon franchise.

* * *

**Chapter Two: **Turning a new Page

Serena couldn't help but smile as she and her friend, Shauna, made their way through Route 1, back towards Vaniville Town. If you didn't count the intense training session in the morning and early afternoon, this had turned out to be a great day! After she had left Vaniville Town, she had managed to catch up with Shauna at Aquacorde Town's market place before 2 o'clock. Her friend had been delighted to find that Serena had managed to get away from her mother's strict training program early, not that it really surprised her. Shauna could get delighted from pretty much anything. She even used to become delighted when it was raining, because that meant she could run outside in her swinsuit and splash around in the puddles. Serena herself didn't like rain. It usually made her hair become all messy once it got dry again.

Thankfully, there was no raining today as the two friends walked back home, listening to the sounds of various smaller pokemon all around them and having a light conversation about what they had done during the afternoon. However, Serena was only half aware of what they were talking about. She was more content just enjoying the peace and harmony around them. The calmness of pokemon and the nature they lived in, it made her feel almost like she was back home, in Kanto. It was moments like these that Serena treassured more than anything else, aside from the blue handkerchief that was tied around her left wrist. Sometimes, she wished there was a way to make these moments go on forever. Don't get it wrong, she felt at home in Vaniville Town too but it just wasn't the same as her home back in Pallet. She missed growing up in the Kanto region, waking up early in the morning and run outside as soon as she had finished breakfast to play with Ash in the forest. When she had first arrived in Kalos, she used to keep up that habit of running out into the forest on Route 1, just to get the feeling that not everything had changed. In the forest, everything felt more familiar. In nature, there was no regional borders or Kalos or Kanto regions. In nature, everything was the same.

But after a time, she had begun to feel lonely playing in the forest all by herself. It just wasn't the same without Ash and she had been forced to realize that things really had changed. When she left Kanto and Ash, she had left more than the pink band from her straw hat behind. She had left all of her life up to that point behind and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't keep living in the past. Since then, she had opted to sleep late in the morning instead, hoping the days would pass by faster if she didn't get up out of bed and even after she met Shauna, she had kept routine up.

"Serena? Are you even listening to me?"

Hearing her name being called, Serena stopped and shook her head to clear her thoughts. Turning towards her friend, she found the brown haired girl had stopped a few feet before her and was now standing with her hands on her hips, looking at the honey-blonde girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, I guess I kind of spaced out. What were you saying?" Serena asked while she scratched the back of her head in embarrasment.

Shauna eyed her for a moment, silently wondering what Serena had been thinking about. Her friend had been spacing out a lot lately and it was starting to become a little creepy. Shauna knew of course that her friend missed her home in the Kanto region. Serena had told her that much when she had asked what she was thinking about during these space outs, but recently it had become more frequent. Deciding to let it slip for now, Shauna simply caught up with her friend and went along as if nothing had happened.

"I asked if you have ever dreamed of leaving Vaniville Town and see the world? I wish my mom would have let me go on a journey when I turned 10 but she refused, saying I was too young to be on my own." Shauna pouted at the last part, making Serena giggle slightly at her friend's childishness.

"I am from _another region_, remember? I have been out of Vaniville Town." Serena said with a smile on her face.

Shauna scowled at her friend's playful smile. That had not been what she had meant and Serena knew it! When Serena gave her a mocking look and stuck out her tongue in a childish way, Shauna began stomping her foot in the ground, which caused the dark-blonde girl mocking her to chuckle.

"Aah! That's not what I meant and you know it! I mean like, travelling the world, seeing new places and meeting new people! Going on a journey with your very own Pokemon! Wouldn't that be wonderful?" she asked, her exctiement at the thought of travelling with her own Pokemon overriding her frustration at Serena's antics.

By now, they had reached the gates that led into Vaniville Town. The gates were sceduled to be closed by 8 o'clock, as to not let any wild Pokemon roam the town at night. There wasn't any dangerous pokemon around these parts, but that didn't mean the Pokemon that did live her couldn't cause trouble. Serena looked up at the gates and remember the first time she had seen them. Back then, they had felt so... foreign to her. The first night she had spent in her new home, she had dreamt about running out those gates and meeting Ash again. He would be waiting for her in the forest, just like it used to be. That was probably why she had ran out into the forest as soon as her mother had let her.

"Actually, I turned down the offer of travelling when Professor Sycamore asked when I turned 10." she said to Shauna, whose eyes went wide at this declaration.

Truth to be told, she had imagined herself accepting the offer so she could get out of Vaniville Town and back to Lumiose City to try and escape back to Kanto. In her mind, it had seemed like a perfect plan to get back to Ash, but then reality had kicked in. What about her mom? She would no doubt get to know it as soon as she left Kalos and if she didn't get to know it then, Delia would no doubt call her old friend if Serena showed up in Pallet Town when she was supposed to be on the other side of the globe.

"What? Why would you do that? I had to fight tooth and nail to get my mother to let me go and even then she was adamant I stay home! And now you're saying you could have been out of this place without even trying but _turned it down_?!" Shauna asked in exasperration.

Serena turned towards her friend. She hadn't told her about her plan of escape. Looking back, it was just too damn ridiculus and she didn't want to give Shauna that material to tease her with.

"Yeah well, I was still pretty cut up after..." her voice trailed off as she thought back to how she had felt when she moved here.

Shauna looked at her with a clueless look in her eyes, trying to understand why anyone would turn down a journey, no matter what the reasons. However, as two and two clicked together in her mind, a mischievous smile spread across her face. She elbowed Serena lightly in the side to get her to look at her.

"Ooh, you mean you missed that boyfriend of yours that you left behind in Kanto?" she said with a suggestive look on her face as she rolled her eyebrows.

"Shauna!" Serena exclaimed in shock. She felt her cheeks turning red at Shauna's implication. "It wasn't like that! We were just... friends."

The hyperactive girl next to her snorted with laughter at her friend's expense and Serena deliberately looked away, not wanting to meet her friend's eyes. Thankfully, Shauna seemed to be too busy trying to stiffle her laughter at her friend's embarrassment to be able to say anything else for a while. Serena picked up the pace, hoping to get back to her house before her friend could recover enough to keep teasing her about this. Why did this happen every time she mentioned her old home town to Shauna? And what was worse, why did she always get this warm, comfortable feeling in her chest when Shauna implied that Ash had been Serena's boyfriend? Unfortunately for Serena, they were still a little way from her house when Shauna regained her composure.

"Yeah sure. You keep saying that but your actions speak against you this time."

Feeling her cheeks flush even more as a picture of her younger self kissing Ash somehow found its way into Serena's mind, the poor girl desperately tried to find a way to change the subject.

"Can't we just stick to talking about journeys?" she groaned in despair.

Shauna was tempted to ask if Serena had been more willing to go on a journey if Ash had come with her to Kalos, but decided that her friend had suffered enough already. So instead, she just grinned at the sitll blushing girl and made a point of giving her friend a kind smile to show that she had had her fun already.

"Sure. What pokemon would you like to start out with if you were to go on a journey? You do know what Pokemon we would get to choose from, right?"

Letting out a sigh of relief that they had moved away from the deep waters, Serena began searching her mind to try and remember what Pokemon Professor Sycamore had showed her when she was debating whether to go on a journey or not when she was 10 years old. If she remembered correctly, there was a Fox-like pokemon named Fennekin that was a fire-type, a Toad-like pokemon named Froakie that was a water-type and some weird kind of grass-type pokemon that looked like a cross between a mole and an otter named Chespin. All three were pretty cute but thinking back, she wondered which one would be the best looking when it grew up and evolved further. She didn't know much about them after they evolved so it would be a pretty hard descision to make.

"I'm not sure. I guess Fennekin is the cutest when they are young, but I don't know if that would be the best thing to base my descision on." she said after carefully contemplating her options and what she knew about all three of the pokemon. By now, her house was withing sight and she could smell her mother cooking dinner through the open window.

"Really? I think I would pick Froakie. It is definetely the cutest!" Shauna said with a squeal at the last part.

Serena smiled slightly. Shauna had always been one to know exactly what she wanted. It was a trait that she had inherited from her mother, at least Serena thought so as Shauna's mother seemed to be the only one capable of winning an argument with her daughter, once she had made up her mind. And really, if Shauna's mother had been able to hold her daughter back when she stubbornly wanted to go on a journey, then she had to be at the very least just as stubborn.

When the two friends entered the small garden, Serena's mother's Rhyhorn looked up and upon seeing the two girls, he stood up and made his way over to them. When he stopped in front of them, he gave Serena a worried glance before giving her hand a lick.

"Don't worry Rhyhorn, I'm fine. I'm not angry about earlier today." the honey-blonde girl said as she bent forward to pet the Spikes Pokemon.

"Rhy!" the Rhyhorn gave as an answer as he murmured happily under Serena's gentle touch.

Smiling as she petted her mother's pokemon, Serena turned back towards Shauna, who was standing a few feet behind her.

"Are you staying for dinner?" she asked as she stood back up and let Rhyhorn make his way back towards his little kennel.

Shauna breathed in the aroma of Serena's mom's excellent cooking that was seeping out throught he open window and for a moment, she was tempted to accept the invitation, but managed to keep her mind straight as she remembered her responsabilities.

"Sorry, I can't I promised mom that I would babysit Sean tonight." she grimaced at the thought of spending her entire evening keeping an eye on her 5 year old little brother. Her mind had never been able to understand why her parents had wanted another child. Sure, he could be cute when he wanted to, but most of the time he was just annoying when he wanted to either play hide and seek or were causing chaos somewhere in the house.

Serena grinned at the thought of the night Shauna was due to have. In her mind, an image of Shauna chasing her younger brother all over their house while he was holding a matchbox in his hand and tossed lit matches all over the place played in Serena's mind and she couldn't help but laugh. Sean was 10 years younger than Shauna, who was the same age as Serena, but the similarities between the two siblings were already striking, both physical and mental. They both shared the same round face and brown hair and both had the same hyperactive personality. Since neither of them could sit still for more than 5 minutes at most, there was always full activity in their house.

"Well, good luck then. You'll need it."

With that, the two friends gave each other a hug and bid the other farewell. After seeing Shauna disappear behind the hedges, Serena turned and walked in through the door.

"Mom! I'm home!" she called towards the kitchen, from where she heard the hiss of a frying pan.

She recieved a polite "Welcome home!" and decided to go upstairs to leave her hat and change into something more comfortable before going down for dinner. When she peaked intot he kitchen to see how far along her mother had gotten with the meal, she was told to be down again in 10 minutes to set the table. Checking the clock on the wall to make sure she would know when to come down, Serena went back upstairs and into her room. As soon as she had closed the door behind her, she went straight towards her bed in the corner of the room and, after dropping her hat on the floor, threw herself down on the blankets. She was exhausted. It had been a very tiring day, with 3 hours of Rhyhorn Racing Training and then spending the rest of the day with Shauna in a market place.

Taking a deep breath, Serena felt her muscles relax and felt content just lying on the blankets for a while. The soft fabric felt chilling against her exposed arms, but that felt just too good after having spent the entire day in the heat of the sun. She was tempted to just close her eyes and dose off for a bit, but knowing her mother would just send Fletchling to peck her awake if she didn't come down to set the table in time, she surpressed the urge. Instead, she settled for another deep breath and sat up again. After stetching her legs and arms, she stood up and went over to her wardrobe to see if she could find a pair of sweatpants to wear, not that she was at home. Those were a lot more comfortable than tights and skirts. Well, the skirt wasn't that bad, but it would not go very well with a pair of sweatpants, no matter what the colors. After rummaging through the shelfs in search of something, she settled for a pair of simple black sweatpants and a light blue sweater. Once she had changed, she made sure to untie Ash's handkerchief from her wrist and folded it before putting it back on her bedside table. She didn't want it to become dirty while she ate, or risk accidently putting it in her food.

Making her way back downstairs, she found her mother was just putting the finishing touch to their meal. She went over to the dressers and pulled out two plates and went on to put them on the table, along with 2 forks and 2 knives. After getting out 2 glasses and a milk carton, Serena sat down and waited for her mother to finish. However to her surprise, when her mother had finished by the stove and taken the frying pan off the hotplate, she just cleaned her hands before she went over to sit down opposite to her daughter. When Serena gave her a surprised look, she sighed and nodded.

"Before we eat, there is something I want to talk to you about." she said.

**-X-X-X-**

Ash felt his excitement build as he put the phone back in its place. Brock was going to come with him to Kalos! It would be just like the good old times! Not that he hadn't enjoyed travelling with Iris and Cilan, but no one could replace Brock in his mind. There was something special about that guy. And it would be good for his Pokemon too! Brock knew pretty much everything there was to know about raising a Pokemon, as was the result of his training to become an expert Pokemon Breeder. And now that he had added a year of studying medicine, he would know even more about what to do when their pokemon got hurt.

Grinning like an idiot, Ash turned away from the phone and began walking towards the stairs. This was turning more awesome by the minute! After he had talked to all of his Pokemon and explained that he would possibly start calling them in for Gym Battles as well as other tournament battles, his pokemon had all responded in delight. All of them had been eager to battle alongside him again, but Gible, Buizel, Infernape, Sceptile and Charizard in particular had peaked up on the prospect of possibly being called in for difficult battles. Charizard in particular had seemed eager to do mor battling and after a lot of consideration, Ash had decided to break an old habit and actually bring Charizard along from the start. Usually when he started a new journey, only Pikachu would go with him to the new region, but seeing as he would start calling in his other friends for battles as well, not to mention the fact that Charizard had left and opted not to return to the Charizific Valley _in order _to travel with Ash again, he didn't see any reason not to bring along Charizard from the start. It wasn't like his Pokeball would take up too much space on the airplane to Kalos.

But aside from Charizard, they had decided that the others would stay at home and only be called upon when their services were needed. Some of the younger ones, like Gible, would get the chance of travelling with him though, as they hadn't really travelled much together. For example, Gible had been caught just before he entered the Lily of the Valley Conference in Sinnoh so aside from that tournament, they really didn't know each other that well.

Now, he needed to start planning and packing. They would leave early tomorrow. Professor Oak would drive him and Alexa to the airport in Saffron City. They would pick Brock up outside of the Pewter Gym when they passed through Pewter City. Brock had told him that he would focus on the practical stuff, like food, Care for Pokemon things and a tent so Ash should focus more around his own personal packing. It really wasn't much he had to pack since he already had packed his sleeping bag and, which his mother had pointed out was extremely important, clean underwear. He had also made sure to get a small supply of potions and a first aid kit, both for himself and for his Pokemon. Now that he thought about it, Pikachu had a nack for getting badly hurt either during the journey to a new region, or just when they arrived in a new region. In Unova, he had even been hit by a Legendary Pokemon's attack during his first day in the region.

As he came into his room, he found Pikachu already asleep on his blankets. Beside the yellow rodent, he found a pile of newly sewn clothes, which he assumed was his new outfit for this year. He walked over and studied his mom's handiwork. She had placed a simple black undershirt at the top, under which the his new shirt was lying. He reached intot he pile and pulled out the shirt, which looked pretty similar to the one he had worn during his travels through Unova, just that it was black/dark blue (the same color his shirt was in DP) where his Unova shirt was light blue on the upper part and that it had a hood instead of a high collar. The lining around his neck was also yellow instead of black and the hood was a blue color, similar to the outline of the pockets on its front. There was also a thick yellow stripe running down the top of each of his arms that reached from the end of it to his neck (imagine an Adidas shirt, just that it is one thick stripe and not 3 thin ones).

Looking it over, Ash nodded approvingly. His mother really had good taste. Pulling out the chair from his desk, Ash hung the shirt over the back of the chair and turned to see what more he had been given. Apparently, his mother had decided that he would wear his new shirt along with a pair of blue pants, so his overall coloration would be the same as it had been when he was travelling through Sinnoh.

"Do you like it?"

Ash turned around when he heard the voice to find his mother standing in the doorway, looking at him with a gentle smile on her face. Seeing as she wanted him to try on his new gear, Ash signaled for her to move out for a few moments while he changed, which she did without complaint. It wasn't that she had never seen him in only underwear before, but he was a teenager now after all. After switftly changing into his new pants and pulling the zipper on his new shirt, he went out into the hall to show his mother.

"I love it. Thanks a lot mom. I really like colors. They are a bit different from what I usually wear." he said as he twisted and turned to get a good look at himself from all angles in the mirror that stood in the hall.

His mother studied him while he was inspecting his new clothing with an approving smile. She was glad to see that Ash was starting to care more for what he was wearing. In the past, he would just look it over and say "Good!" then that was it. He really was a handsome boy when he tried so it felt good to see that he was starting to care more for his looks. And he was about the age when boys usually started getting interested in girls now that the girls... developments was starting to shine through more. To be honest, Delia was a little surprised that Ash had been able to travel with 4 different girls through 5 different regions for 5 years without getting hung up on or at least become a little interested in any of them. Sure, he had only been 10-12 years when he was travelling with Misty and she had been older than him so that was probably understandable, but May, Dawn and Iris had all been wonderful girls and very beautiful in their own way. Even though she had never met Dawn or Iris in person, she had spoken to them many times when Ash called home and Dawn in particular had appeared to be really caring towards Ash. In her opinion, Iris had seemed to be a little too bossy with Ash and from what she had heard and seen, Iris had also been the one most keen on getting into arguments with her son during their travels. Dawn on the other hand had always been cheerful around Ash and the most supportive of all of Ash's female companions.

Ah well, it wouldn't do for her to try and make sense of it right now. When the time came for Ash to get a girlfriend, Ash would no doubt tell her. For now, she should be happy he was starting to pay more attention to what he was wearing.

"You're very welcome. I did the coloration the same as you had when you won the Lily of the Valley Conference. Perhaps having the same colors will bring you good luck." she said with a smile.

Ash hadn't really thought about it that way, but now that she mentioned it he realized that he had been wearing these same colors during his journey through Sinnoh and ONLY then. His attire was usually focused around white and blue, while the attire he had worn in Sinnoh had been more focused around darker colors and yellow. Why had he not thought about that before? Probably because he had never cared about what he was wearing, as long as it was not girl clothes. He shuddered at the memory of himself wearing a waitress costume when he was in Sinnoh. And then he shuddered even more when a picture of himself dressing up as a rich lady along with Cilan and Iris in order to infiltrate a snobby clubhouse so Iris could get revenge against one of the clubs members who had insulted her Emolga.

Shaking his head to get the disturbing pictures out of his head, Ash turned towards his mother and grinned.

"I like how you think." he said, before turning around and headed back into his room to inspect his new baseball cap. As usual, it was mostly colored red. At least that was something that would never change. However, the front was colored black/dark blue, same as his shirt and had a yellow pokeball symbol on it. All in all, it complemented his outfit pretty well.

His mother followed him into the room and nodded approvingly when Ash tried on his cap. Seeing as nothing needed to be changed in his outfit, she turned towards his desk to find that he had already packed most of his bag.

"Do you got everything packed?" she asked, though by the looks of his bag, it wouldn't be able to fit much more even if he did need to pack something else.

Ash sat down on his bed and nodded as he reached out and scratched the still sleeping Pikachu behind his ears. The little rodent cooed in his sleep and rolled over to give Ash better access.

"Yeah. I'll just do one last double check tomorrow before we leave. Brock said he would take care of food supplies and tent so there's nothing else I need to pack." he said as he looked over towards his belt that was hanging over the back of the chair he had used as a rack.

One single pokeball was hanging securely from it. He had made sure that Charizard was perfectly healthy before he left Professor Oak's laboratory and Pikachu was as healthy one can be. He had stacked up on Hyper Potions and he had even made sure to buy 2 of each cure against status conditions. He had made sure to pack his sleeping bag and made sure his new first aid kit was sercurely packed in an outside pocket. He was ready.

"Well, you better get to bed then. Tomorrow's the big day. You will need all the sleep you can get." Delia said as she turned to leave the room.

Bidding his mother good night, Ash changed into his pyjamas before he went to brush his teeth. When he was done, he walked back to his room and turned off the light. He carefully moved Pikachu so he was resting by the pillow so he could move the blanket and crawl into bed. As he laid down, he thought about all the new pokemon and new people he would meet on this journey. Something, he didn't know what, told him that this journey would be special.

**-X-X-X-**

While an experienced trainer was falling asleep in his bed, a soon-to-be trainer was lying in her own bed, wide awake. When her mother had sat down and began asking questions about how Serena regarded her future as a Rhyhorn Racer, she had been tempted to try and lie. She didn't want to disappoint her mother by saying she didn't want to be a Rhyhorn Racer. But when her mother gave her a very serious look, she had found herself unable to lie and had said that she really didn't think Rhyhorn Racing was her thing. She didn't know what to expect when she had said it, but she sure hadn't expected to recieve a smile from her mom.

After that, she had been assured that whatever she decided to do, her mother would always support her, much to her confusion. However, it had all been cleared up after a few more words. It turned out that her mother had contacted Professor Sycamore, asking if he had any Pokemon to give to new trainers and discussed the possibility of giving one to Serena. The Professor had told her mother that should Serena wish to start a journey, it would never be too late and he would be able to send someone over to Vaniville Town to give her a Pokemon any day.

It had all come as a shock for Serena. She had been so surprised at the sudden offer that she hadn't been able to quite shake herself out of it for the entire meal. When she was done eating, she had told her mother that she wanted to think about it before she had went to her room and went to bed early. But Serena couldn't sleep. Now that she had time to be alone and think, she just couldn't stop thinking about the choice. Did she want to go on a journey? Yes. Oh yes, she wanted to go on a journey. But what would it mean for her? She would be leaving her home behind, the home that she had worked so hard to establish and make feel like a home to her. It had taken years for her to finally accept that Vaniville was her home now and not Pallet. Would going on a journey mean that she would throw all those years away?

She wanted to go on a journey. She really did, but at the same time it was a scary thought. She would be on her own, no mom to help her when she was having trouble with something and no friends to turn to in dire situations. Well, that wasn't entirerly true. She would always have her Pokemon with her. Speaking of which, what Pokemon would she pick? When she had discussed it with Shauna this afternoon, she had said Fennekin, mostly to just have an answer for her friend but the more she thought about it, the more it felt like she really would pick Fennekin. Yes, that would probably be a good choice. Speaking of Shauna... how jealous wouldn't she be when she got to know that Serena was going to leave on a journey!

Grinning as she thought about what her friend's reaction would be like, she rolled over so she faced her bedside table, where Ash's handkerchief was laying. Even in the dark room, she could make it out by its color. She sighed as she looked at the cloth.

_I did get to go after all Ash. It took me 5 years longer than we planned, but now I'm finally getting to go. _she thought as she remembered the endless afternoons they used to spend in the forest outside of Pallet Town, just sitting around and talkning about how their journey would go once they left. They had been dreaming of travelling together. Ash was gonna challenge the Gyms in Kanto and become a Pokemon Master while Serena... well she was just happy that Ash wanted her to come with him.

Thinking of Ash, she found herself wondering if he ever did go on his journey? He probably did. He had always been the kind to never back down, no matter how many obstacles got in his way. He would have gone on his journey, with or without her. As she imagined a 10 year old Ash walk out through the gates of Pallet alone, Serena felt her heart constrict. It hadn't been supposed to be like that. They had been supposed to leave together. Why did it have to turn out this way?

As she rolled over to stare up at the ceiling, she found herself once again wondering what had become of Ash. How had his journey through Kanto been? Had he won the Indigo League? Had he become the Champion yet? And if he had finished his journey through Kanto, what had he done after that? Had he went to another region or had he redone his journey? Aaah! So many questions!

Needless to say, Serena didn't get much sleep that night.

**-X-X-X-**

_Ash was standing in the middle of a huge arena. He looked up towards the rows of spectators with a thrill. They were all cheering loudly. And they were cheering for him! _

_"We congratulate our new Champion on this achievement! Today, history have been written as Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in Kanto takes over the title of Champion over the Kalos Elite Four! In a moment, our President will deliver the trophy to the new champion. I will now give the floor to our special journalist Alexa, who is down in the stadium right next to Ash!"_

_Ash turned around to find Alexa standing behind him with a proud smile on her face. Had she been standing there all the time? Behind her, he could see a trainer on his knees, the former champion of Kalos. The trainer was somehow covered in shadows and his face was not visible, but Ash could tell he was displeased at losing his title. But right now, that didn't matter. He raised his arms into the air to the cheers of the spectators just as Alexa walked up to him and held out her microphone._

_"Thank you, dear commentator. Now here with me I got Kalos new Champion, Ash Ketchum!"_

_Her next sentence was drowned out by the sound from the spectators when she said Ash's name. Once the cheers died down, she was just about to ask again when a man dressed in a black tuxedo walked up to them with a huge trophy in his hands. He smiled as he handed it to Ash, who grabbed it with both hands and raised it into the air. Then, something strange happened. Sparks began flying from the trophy and without warning, the trophy somehow shouted:_

_"PIIIKAAAACHUUUUUUU!"_

Yelping in pain, Ash woke up from all too familiar feeling of Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack. When the flashes and sparks stopped, he found himself resembling a beef that had been left too long on the grill. Burned. In his hands, he held a startled Pikachu, that was scratching its head cheepishly.

Ash groaned as he let go of Pikachu and began moving his sore limbs. He must have picked Pikachu up when he dreamt he lifted that trophy towards the sky and awoken his partner.

"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked worriedly as he looked up at his friend.

Ash looked down at his partner and tried to look untouched, a very hard thing to do when you looked like a roasted shrimp.

"I'm fine buddy, don't worry." he said before falling back against the blankets.

It took Ash 10 minutes to recover from the harsh awakening. When he finally regained the feeling in his toes and fingers, he got up and went to take a shower. He couldn't leave on his next journey looking like he had been riding a Camerupt when it had one of its eruptions. Once he felt fresh enough, he went back to his room and got dressed in his new gear. It fit just as nicely as it had the day before and when he was fully geared, he equiped his belt that was holding Charizard's pokeball and a small pouch of emergency provisions. You never knew when that could come in handy.

After checking his bag and spending another 10 minutes of thinking twice about everything he had packed, Ash closed his bag and held out his arm so Pikachu could jump onto his shoulder, which the yellow rodent did with delight. When he came downstairs, his mom had already finished preparing breakfast and was sitting by the table talking to Alexa.

"...and make sure he changes his underwear everyday." Delia finished giving Alexa instructions for the time she would spend with Ash until they parted ways.

Suddenly Ash felt like perhaps it would have been wiser to come down here a little faster and only spend 5 minutes double checking his stuff. He felt his cheeks heat up as Alexa giggled at Delia's instructions. On the table, Alexa's Helioptile was drinking water from a a bowl. When Ash entered the kitchen with a red face, the yellow Kalos native pokemon peeked up and gave off a happy:

"Lioptile!"

When Helioptile greeted Ash and Pikachu, the two women became aware of the rooms new occupants. Seeing the flush on his face, Alexa understood that Ash had overheard the last part of hers and Delia conversation and had to cover her mouth with a hand to stiffle her laughter. Ash just glared at his mother for embarrassing, which Delia answered with a kind smile.

**-X-X-X-**

After having spent the morning with a mother who kept embarrassing him and a Pokemon Journalist who seemed to have turned back into a gigglish little girl again, Ash was relieved when Professor Oak stopped their car to pick up Brock. Seeing his old friend standing with his backpack ready and classic hiking vest on his upper body, Ash couldn't help but feel nostalgic. When Brock climbed into the car and sat down beside him, he couldn't help but grin like and idiot.

"Hey Brock! Long time no see!" he said and held out his hand for Brock to take.

The former Pewter City Gym Leader grinned at the outstretched hand, but put his backpack down and fastened his seat belt before answering.

"It sure has. And it seems you have grown quite a bit in that time." he said as he took the hand and shook it.

Upon hearing Brock comment on his growth, Ash couldn't help but think back to the journey he had with Cilan and Iris. Had he really grown during that time? It sure didn't feel like it. Thinking about his so called "progress", Ash sunk back into his seat as Professor Oak drove away from the Pewter Gym and set their destination for the airport in Saffron City.

"I'm not so sure about that. I mean, I got eliminated from the Unova League pretty quickly." Ash said with a sullen look on his face. In his lap, Pikachu nudged him to try and snap him out of his bad mood, but Ash didn't even seem to notice him.

Brock studied his friend for a moment. He could see that during the year they had spent on different locations, Ash really had grown. He seemed to be much more critical towards himself than he was in the past. When he had just started out as a trainer, Brock remembered Ash to be almost as cocky as Gary and sometimes arrogant enough to rival Paul, though he had never pointed it out. In his own eyes, Ash could do nothing wrong and even though that attitude had faded away over time as Ash grew up, this was the first time Brock had seen him give himself critique.

"Yeah, I heard about that. But what I meant was your growth as a person, Ash."

Hearing this declaration, Ash looked up from his lap with a surprised look. In the front seat, Alexa turned slightly to look at them through the corner of her eye. In her lap, Helioptile was sleeping soundly.

"You lost in the quarter finals of the Unova Conference. So what? I mean, look at yourself Ash. It takes a mature person to accept that what happened might have been his own fault and not someone else's. But instead of charging head on into the next adventure like you have done in the past, you took the time to think twice about your actions and how you could have done thigns otherwise to have it turn out better next time. You told me so on the phone." Brock said with a rock hard look in his eyes.

Ash thought back to when he had just gotten home. He wouldn't call it a grown up's action to lock himself in his room and sulk, but in a way Brock did have a point. When he had lost in his earlier tournaments, he had never taken the time to stop for a second and question what had gone wrong and what he could have done differently.

"Well, I guess you got a point there." he said hesistantly.

Brock smiled as he put a hand on Ash's shoulder.

"Look, I know it feels weird to be referred to as mature when you still feel like you're the same kid, but you get used to it. I went through the same thing when I began taking care of my siblings when my dad and mom disappeared." he said.

In Ash's lap, Pikachu listened with interest as Brock went on to explain to Ash what it meant to grow up and how far along that line Ash had come. As the two friends discussed Ash's developments, catching up on lost time along the way, Pikachu tried to make sense of what Brock was suggesting. It sounded almost like Brock was saying that this was an entirerly new Ash and not the same one that had rescued him from that flock of angry Spearows for him all those years ago. Yeah, he no longer pulled Pikachu by the tail when he didn't do as he was told, but to Pikachu, Ash was still Ash, and always would be. Content with that thought, Pikachu curled up in his trainers lap and followed Helioptile's example. He fell asleep.

During the entire trip, Ash and Brock kept talking about things they had done during the past year and what their expectations were for the Kalos region. When they came to the latter, Alexa joined in on the conversation. When the Pokemon Journalist turned around so Brock could see her face, he immediately went into "love mode", as Ash had taken to calling it. He immediately sprung forward in his seat with hearts in his eyes and reached to grab her hand while mumbling nonsense. Unfortunately for him, what he caught and pulled towards him was not Alexa's hand, but Helioptile's ear. Upon being awoken from being pulled by the ear by a stranger, Helioptile released a large amount of electricity, shocking Brock with his Thundershock. While Brock was being zapped by the startled Generator Pokemon, which was still being held by the ear, Ash leaned forward to explain to the confused Alexa that Brock always behaved like that with all girls his age or higher and that she shouldn't take his marriage proposal seriously.

After a few hours of driving, they finally arrived at the airport. Ash, Brock and Alexa got out their bags and backpacks respectively and said good bye to Professor Oak before making their way inside to try and find their plane. While Alexa was checking in her bag in the reception area, Ash and Brock was standing a few feet away, glancing at the screen that showed arriving and departing flights. As soon as Ash spotted the one that was leaving for Kalos in one hour, he said without turning to Brock.

"You know Brock? There is something in the air today."

"Huh?" Brock answered, confused.

Ash grinned for himself as he discreetly reached towards his left wrist with his right hand and touched the pink band he had tied around it.

"I can't really explain how or why, but I can somehow feel that this journey will be special in some way. Somehow, I know that no matter who I face or how many battles I will fight on this journey, I won't lose."

**-X-X-X-**

While the three travellers from Kanto was checking in their luggage at the airport to take the flight over to Kalos, Serena had just finished her breakfast. When she hadn't been able to sleep very well, she had thought that she might as well get up early and make her own breakfast, rather than wait for her mom. It had almost felt like in the old days, when she got up early to play with Ash. She was just finished when her mother came down into the kitchen with a surprised look on her face.

"Well, someone's up early." she commented.

Serena smiled as she put her plate in the dishwasher and turned towards her mom. Despite not having gotten much sleep the night before, she felt great! And what was more, she felt determined! She knew what she wanted to do and that filled her with a strange kind of satisfaction that she hadn't felt since she moved away from Kanto.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep. I was too excited to get to call Professor Sycamore today." she said.

Hearing this, her mother's eyes widened. The two of them eyed each other for a moment, before Serena said the words that had been hanging in the air between them.

"I have decided to go on a Pokemon journey, to find my place here in the world. I want to accept Professor Sycamore's offer to recieve a Pokemon."

* * *

**A/N: **_So there we go, the second chapter. This was a really fast update, even for me. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

_For those of you who wonder what Team Rocket is up to, they will show up sooner or later so don't worry. I won't have them show up for ever damn chapter though. _

**_List of Pokemon:_**

_Ash Ketchum_

_Pikachu: Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, Iron Tail, Electro Ball_

_Charizard: Flamethrower, Slash, Wing Attack, Dragon Tail_

_Brock_

_Unknown Pokemon: **This Pokemon have yet to be decided! If you got any favourite you would like to see Brock with, tell me in a review or PM!**_

_Alexa_

_Helioptile: Thundershock, Parabolic Charge_

_Gogoat_

_Noivern_

**Cont. A/N:** _I will keep updating the List of Pokemon with the latest info on the Pokemon each trainer has on hand for each chapter. I will also use the same system as the games, that a pokemon can only know 4 moves at the same time. Now, I want to give a big shoutout for the poll in my profile! I advice you all to go there and vote for what Kalos Pokemon you want Ash to catch! You got 5 votes so you will have a good chance of making a difference! =)_

_Now to anwer some reviews:_

**_snooper roofle:_**_ Yeah, I always appreciate it when other authors put a lot of detail into a scene to make it as real as possible. So I am simply doing for you what I want other authors to do for me! =) As for what I call "long", I have taken to writing between 8k and 12k words when I update my HP story, so that's currently my definition of a "long" chapter. the 7k I wrote for the first chapter of this story was what I would call "decent". _

**_White-Falcon-06:_**_ Yeah, Brock's the man. The BW series lost me when Brock didn't turn up and it sux he won't in XY series either, but as long as Serena is being a cutie in that series, I'll try to keep watching. I just hope we get to see some canon romance between Ash and Serena, it certainly seems like Serena wouldn't mind :D Oh, and yeah I have watched the Garchomp episode, many times and I got some sweet stuff planned for that one._

_And concludes the second chapter of Serene Phoenix! Oh, and cookies to anyone who can guess where the name comes from! My buddy Keeper of Worlds have already guessed right! :D Bye guys!_


	3. Arrival

**A/N:** _Hello Pokemon fans. Welcome back to Serene Phoenix! I will take the small talk at the bottom. Thank you for supporting me in my writing._

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own this.

* * *

**Chapter Three: **Arrival

"I see. So you'll soon be back in Lumiose City again then?"

Professor Augustine Sycamore couldn't help but marvel at the young trainer on the other end of the phone line. It felt like it was only yesterday that Dusk had walked out the doors of his laboratory after his visit and now he already had 4 badges. Of course, that was to be expected considering who he was, but even for someone as talented as him, this had to be record time for making it half way through Kalos. He sure hadn't lost his touch during the 3 years he had spent in Hoenn, working for the Devon Corporation.

"Yeah, I'm going to challenge the Lumiose Gym. How's Garchomp doing by the way? I might want to use him for the Gym Battle." the raven haired boy on the phone screen asked.

Augustine couldn't help but smile. It had been really kind of Dusk to leave his Garchomp at the Sycamore Pokemon Lab in order for them to study the powers and possibilities of Mega Evolution. Garchomp was, after all, Dusk's first Pokemon and chosen partner. They had been together since Dusk started his journey and Garchomp had been Dusk's main Pokemon both during their first and second journeys.

"Garchomp is doing just fine, though I think he will be happy to see you again. He's been a little restless lately so I don't doubt he will be glad to help you in the Lumiose Gym." Augustine said.

Just as he said it, said pokemon walked up from behind him and entered the phone area, giving off an excited roar at the sight of his trainer.

"Ah, it's great to see you too Garchomp. Tell me, have you been keeping in shape? I hope you haven't slacked off or you might find yourself getting beaten in the Lumiose Gym." Dusk said with a mock smirk on his face. Garchomp responded by giving him a look that clearly said "Since when have I ever given you reason to doubt me?".

Augustine took a step away when Garchomp began waving his arms in excited motions. It would appear that the Land Shark Pokemon had gotten a little overexcited from speaking to his trainer again. Smiling as the two old friends struck up what appeared to be a conversation, Augustine couldn't help but feel excited himself. According to his research, a strong bond between trainer and Pokemon was required to trigger Mega Evolution and these two, if anyone he had ever met, shared a strong bond. Born and raised in Celestic Town in the Sinnoh Region, Dusk had recieved Gible when he was 10 years old, as was customary for his family, and set off on a journey through Sinnoh. He still remembered the first time he had heard the name Dusk. Sinnoh and Kalos were far from neighbouring regions, but when a 10 year old boy, who just started out on his journey, makes it all the way and wins the Lily of the Valley Conference, it is news that is spread world wide. He himself had been glued in front of the television to follow Dusk's challenge of the Elite Four...

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*

Shaken out of his thoughts by the unexpected sound, Augustine noticed that the small red light bulb at the side of the video phone had started blinking, indicating that someone else was trying to call him. Garchomp had also noticed this phenomenom, as it willingly waved its claw at Dusk and took a step away. Dusk also seemed to get the message, as he simply bid the Professor good bye and hung up without further ado. He would have more than enough time to speak with Garchomp once he was back in Lumiose City.

"Hello? This is the Sycamore Pokemon Lab, what can I do for you?" Augustine said into the phone as he picked up the handle, not allowing video contact before he knew who it was.

"Good morning Augustine. This is Grace." said the voice of a young woman in the other end.

Hearing who it was, Augustine quickly put the handle down and pressed the button to allow video connection and a second later, his old friend appeared on the screen. The brown haired woman smiled warmly at him. Augustine, while surprised that she had called so soon after the conversation they had yesterday, couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Well hello there Grace. I didn't expect to hear from you so soon after yesterday." he said.

"Haha, well Serena got something she wanted to tell you." Grace said as an asnwer.

With that, she stepped out of the picture and after a few moments, a young teenage girl entered. Her honey-blonde hair still went down over her shoulders, but her face had lost most of the baby fat it had still had the last time Augustine had seen her and her eyes shone with more life than they had back then. It was as if they were sparkling with energy and anticipation, something that they had lacked back when she was 10 years old.

"Morning Professor!" Serena said cheerfully and gave him a bright smile.

Augustine was slightly taken aback by the happiness and energy in her voice. Back when he had met her when she was still a child, she had been shy and withdrawn and unsure of her new surroundings. Her mother had told him that she had been depressed for leaving her best friend back in Kanto, but now that sadness was gone. It was as if it had been blown away by the wind.

"Well, good morning Serena! How nice to see you, it's been so long!" he said with a smile.

Serena returned the smile. It warmed Augustine's heart to see her so happy, for whatever reason it was. He had a pretty good guess as to why she was happy, but he wanted to hear it from her before jumping to conclussions.

"It sure has. How have you been?" Serena asked.

If Augustine had been surprised to see Serena with a happy face, he was gobsmacked to find her steering up a conversation. She asked how he had been and how his research was going, it was almost spooky how different she was from 5 years ago. It was almost as if she was an entirerly different person. Not that he complained, it had tore at his heart to see the young girl in the straw hat look down on the floor everytime she thought no one was watching and escaped the room as soon as she was allowed.

"So, Serena. Did you call me for any particular reason or just because you wanted to small talk?" he asked when he had finished his explanation of his research on Mega Evolution. It couldn't have been more obvious that Serena had barely understood a word of what he had said, but at least she made the effort to appear interested.

The girl nodded with her smile still evident on her face.

"Uh uh. I have thought about your offer and have decided that I want to travel. Would it be too much to ask for a Pokemon? I know I am like 5 years after my time but..." she didn't finish her statement and instead opted to look at Sycamore with pleading eyes.

Professor Sycamore chuckled inwardly at her nervousity. Did she really believe he would say no? Even if he had wanted to deny her a pokemon, how would be be able to say no to those pleading, sparkling eyes?

"I would be most happy to give you a Pokemon, Serena. I am glad you finally decided to go on your journey." he said with a kind smile.

Serena seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Apparently, she really had been worried that he wouldn't agree to give her a Pokemon. Hadn't he told Grace that Serena would always be accepted to recieve a Pokemon, should she decide to go on a journey?

"Thank you so much Professor!" Serena squealed happily.

Professor Sycamore just smiled at her.

"I will send someone over to Vaniville Town right away with your Pokemon. They should arrive within 2 days!"

And with that, the two bid each other a good day and hung up. When the screen turned lack again, Professor Sycamore turned around towards Garchomp who was still in the room. The Land Shark Pokemon was shaking his head at the Professor, as if to try and say "You're hopeless!". The Professor frowned at the dragon's antics before he realized what Garchomp was getting at. Currently, there was no one at the lab to send. The only other researcher currently not doing field work was Sophie and sending her was not an option, as she was requried to stay here to care for the Pokemon living in the lab.

_'Oops, I'm in over my head this time.' _the Professor thought as he scratched the back of his head. Garchomp just made a growling noise, showing that he agreed fully with the Professor.

**-X-X-X-**

Ash could hardly contain his excitement as he felt the plane touch down on the ground. He gripped the armsrest on both sides of his seat and leaned forward, shaking with excitement. Beside him, Brock was watching his friend, amused at his reaction. Some things just never changed. In Ash's lap, Pikachu appered to be equally excited.

"Ash, try to calm down a little or you will end up breaking the armrests." Alexa chuckled from Brock's right side.

The young trainer did the exact opposite. He leaned towards the window to get a better look at Lumiose City. It was huge! It reminded him of Castelia City back in Unova. In the distance, a tower of some kind towered over the city.

"I can't help it! We're finally here!" he said excitedly.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

Brock just grinned and shook his head as he leaned back in his seat and waited for the voice in the speakers to announce that they could exit the plane. Those two would always be the same in some ways, no matter how much they grew up and matured. Instead of worrying about his two friends' antics, he peeked into the corridor between the seats in search of a flight hostess. Unfortunately for him, in order to see into the corridor he had to lean over Alexa and to not lose balance, he had to set one hand down on the armrest between them. And he set his arm right onto a sleeping Helioptile.

"Lioooopt!" screamed the startled electric type and unleashed a Thundershock on the two trainers he had been sleeping between.

Brock yelled in pain from the shocks and was quick to rectract his hand from the small Generator Pokemon. As soon as he had, Helioptile calmed down and immediately jumped into the safest place he could find: Alexa's bag. In its wake was one roasted trainer.

"Alexa... that little reptile of yours is dangerous." Brock groaned.

"He's only dangerous because he regards you as a threat." Alexa giggled in defense of her pokemon.

The shocks and sparks had attracted a lot of attention, including Ash's. He frowned as he looked down on the zapped form of his friend.

"Hey, Brock? You look a little weird." he said, completely clueless.

Brock just groaned and fell out of his seat. Just then, the voice in the speakers announced that people could start leaving the plane and thanked them all for flying with Kanto Airlines. As Ash and Alexa had to get Brock back on his feet, they were left as the last people to leave the plane. When they had finally managed to get Brock back on his feet, the three of them went to get off. As soon as they got close to the exit, Ash began grinning and ran off ahead with Pikachu on his shoulder. When he got outside, he raised his arms towards the sky and took a deep breath.

"HEEY KALOS REGION! ASH FROM PALLET TOWN IS FINALLY HERE!" he shotued at the top of his lungs, drawing many weird looks from the people at the ground.

Behind him, he heard Alexa giggle as she and Brock caught up with him. Brock was grinning almost as wide as Ash was.

"What's with all the yelling?" Alexa asked while Helioptile popped his head out from her bag to see what was going on.

Chuckling at his friend's antics, Brock straightened his grip on his backpack as he carefully took a step away from Alexa now that he saw that Helioptile was out again. Helioptile's shocks were nothing compared to Pikachu's, but that didn't mean they were pleasant. If he could avoid them, then he would.

"Well, it's just his way of saying hello." Brock said.

As Ash stood on top of the steps, he felt his heart beat faster and faster. In front of him, Lumiose City was spread out and by extension, the entire Kalos region. Standing there, he felt that same strange feeling return that he had felt before they left Kanto. That same feeling that this journey would be different from his earlier trips, that this journey would be special somehow. He didn't know why he felt it or what was triggering it, it was just there. Feeling his excitement build even more at the though of this journey being special, Ash took one big step to start his time in the Kalos region. And overdid it a little, resulting in him losing his balance and falling down the stairs. He landed hard on the concrete.

Alexa was quick to get down the stairs to check on him. Brock however took his time, knowing that Ash would be ok. He had survived much worse falls than that without a scratch.

"Are you ok Ash?" Alexa asked worriedly as she pulled him into a sitting position.

Ash groaned and carefully tried out his limbs and rolled his shoulders to ensure that nothing had been broken during the fall. Why was he even bothering? If Team Rocket could survive getting shocked by thousands of volts by Pikachu's Thunderbolt on a daily basis, then he should have no problem taking a little fall down some stairs.

"Yeah, I think so." he said as Pikachu retook his place at his shoulder after falling off when Ash fell.

Just then, Brock had descended the stairs and come up to stand with his two friends.

"Now who's looking weird?" he said with a grin as he helped Ash to his feet.

Ash grunted and glared at the former Kanto Gym Leader.

"Oh, haha. Very funny." he said with an angry voice, though the smile on his face betrayed him.

Now that they all had arrived safe and sound in Kalos (ah well, at least one of them had managed to arrive without any funny incidents), it was time to decide what to do first. Ash immediately began psyching himself up for a Gym battle, but Brock reminded him that Professor Oak had told them that they should go see an aqcuintance of his, Augustine Sycamore, before they did anything else. Professor Sycamore would supply Ash with a Kalos Pokedex. Since Kalos was so far away from Kanto, Professor Oak didn't have much data on Kalos native pokemon, so they figured it would be easiest for Ash to simply ask Professor Sycamore for one. With that thought in mind, Ash and Brock decided to go look for the Sycamore Pokemon Lab. Alexa said she wanted to go back home to Santalune City to meet with her sister. Remembering that Alexa's sister was a Gym Leader, Ash had her promise to make sure she had time for his challenge when they got there. With that, Alexa left them and headed out of town.

Though he would never admit it, Brock felt secretly glad that Alexa had left so that Helioptile wouldn't be able to shock him again. After grabbig a map of the city from a tourist stand, Brock managed to succesfully navigate his way to the Sycamore Pokemon Lab.

"It kind of looks like a mansion." Ash commented as they looked up at the impressive building in front of them.

"Yeah, it does, actually." Brock agreed as he double checked the map.

On Ash's shoulder, Pikachu also nodded his agreement as he stared up at the building. After having spent a few moments marvelling at the sight, Ash went up to the door and knocked. While he waited to be let inside, Brock came up to stand beside him. When no one opened, Ash reached out and tried the door to find that it was unlocked. Shrugging, he opened it and went inside.

"Hello? Is anybody home?" he called.

The entrance hall was pretty large and the inside furniture was red. There were apparently two floors you could reach from here, the ground floor of course, and then a second floor which could be reached by going up two sets of stairs in the farther part of the room. As Ash and Brock looked around the entrance hall, a man came into view from a corridor to the right. He had black hair and was wearing a white labcoat, the typical sign of a Professor.

"Hello. And who might you be?" he asked with a tired voice, while trying to striffle a yawn. He had obviously been taking a nap just before they got here, which would explain why no one had answered the door.

"Hi. I'm Ash from Pallet Town and I've come all the way from the Kanto region to compete in the Kalos League. My friend back home, Professor Oak, said I should visit Professor Sycamore so I could gain a Kalos Pokedex." Ash introduced himself.

Hearing this, the Professor suddenly seemed a lot more awake than he had been just a few moments ago.

"Well, that would be me." he said as he studied the young teenager in front of him. So this was the "Star Pupil" that Professor Oak always bragged about on the annual Pokemon Scientific Get-Together.

The young trainer immediately stepped forward and held out his hand to shake, which Professor Sycamore took. The other young man in the background also stepped forward and introduced himself as Brock. When introductions were done, Professor Sycamore invited them into his laboratory to see his research. Ash, Brock and Pikachu were excited to see what this Professor was doing, as each Professor they had met had a different subject of study, eagerly accepted and followed the older man deeper into the lab.

**-X-X-X-**

"You're kidding, right?!" Shauna exclaimed.

Serena giggled at her friends loudness and the face she was currently doing. It was as if she could make up her mind about how she felt, and it was reflected on her facial expression, which was somewhere between shocked, disbelieving and jealous. The two friends were sitting at a small café in Aquacorde Town, talking about random stuff. No longer being able to hold it in, Serena had told Shauna about her recieving a Pokemon and as she had expected, Shauna had been gobsmacked.

"Nope. I called the Professor this morning and he said that he would send someone over right away. The Pokemon should arrive in 1 to 2 days." Serena said with a smile, barely able to contain her own excitement.

To be honest, she didn't really know why she was feeling this excited. Sure it would be awesome to have her own Pokemon and leave on a journey, but there was something else about it too. Somewhere deep inside her, she had this strange feeling that something very special was about to happen, something that would change her life forever. Well, even more than recieving a Pokemon and leaving her home would, if that was even possible. Perhaps she was reading too much into it, but she just couldn't shake the feeling.

While she was thinking about this, Shauna seemed to have built up a big load of different emotions inside of her because it looked like she was about to explode at any given second.

"Aaaah! It's just not fair! How come you get to go on a journey and see new places and meet all kinds of different people and Pokemon while I will be stuck at home, babysitting my nuisance of a little brother for the rest of my life?!" Shauna screamed in frustration and threw her clenched fists into the air in a dramatic way.

Serena half expected the café owner to throw them out for Shauna's outburst, but all they recieved was a few glances from the surrounding tables. She guessed that by now, the people of Aquacorde Town had known Shauna for too long to even bother try to discipline her.

By now, Shauna had began drinking from her milkshake at an alarming rate to try and cool down her frustration. Serena almost thought she could see steam rise from the hot headed girl's head when the cold milkshake entered her mouth. Knowing that her friend was not done yet, Serena simply waited for her to start round two. And once finished with her milkshake, Shauna opened her mouth again.

"I mean, why does your life have to be so perfect?! You got a mother that are world famous and got enough money to spoil you senseless, you are the most beautiful girl in 2 towns and the top of every boy's list of dream girlfriends and now you get your own Pokemon as well! It just isn't fair!" Shauna hollered.

Hearing her friend count all the things that made her life "perfect", Serena couldn't help but become a little annoyed. Yes, her mother had enough money to most likely buy the entire town they were living in, after her career as a Rhyhorn Racer, but she didn't do it and Serena knew all too well that money could not buy happiness. She had experienced that the hard way when she was separated from Ash! Yes, she was not bad looking, but there was many other girls around these parts that was just as pretty as she was, Shauna included, and even IF she was on top of many boy's "lists of dream girlfriends", Serena was not interested in getting a boyfriend. And now that she was to get a pokemon, what was keeping Shauna from trying to convince her mother to let her leave now that Serena had gotten permission to go?

"My life is far from perfect and you know it, Shauna!" Serena growled with a sharp tone in her voice.

Shauna immediately froze when she heard the sharp tone in Serena's voice. Her voice was usually soft and kind, so when it did take on a more threatening tone, you knew you had went too far. And indeed, when Shauna looked over at Serena, the honey-blonde girl was sitting with her arms crossed in front of her chest with a tick mark on her forehead and glared back at her with a sharp look in her eyes.

"I... I'm sorry Serena. I didn't mean it." she whispered when she realized what she had just shouted.

Serena kept glaring at Shauna for a few moments, causing her to twist uncomfortably under her gaze, before taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh, seemingly allowing her anger to blow out with the sigh.

"It's ok Shauna. I just got angry when you said all those things, because you know that I don't really care about money and even downright dislikes it when boys try to flirt with me." Serena said with a more even tone.

Shauna hung her head in shame. Yes, she knew that all too well. Serena had never boasted about her family's wealth and the only time you could really notice that Serena happened to have more money than other inhabitants of Vaniville Town was when she was out buying christmas or birthday gifts, where she didn't need to worry as much about the price tag as when Shauna did the same. And even though she had been popular among boys ever since she moved into the neighbourhood, Serena had always made a point for them to stay at arms length. Shauna had once joked that Serena wanted to keep the other boys away because she felt she "still belonged to Ash", but her friend had denied it with passion, even though she had been blushing furiously at the same time. And now when Serena was to get a pokemon, something she actually wanted for once, Shauna had blown up at her, saying that it was unfair while she should be happy that for once, Serena actually got something she herself really wanted and not something that anyone else wanted. Well, some friend she was...

Seeing that her friend had realized her mistake, Serena softened up a little and reached over to grab her hand. Shauna looked up in surprise when she felt Serena's comforting touch. That was not something she had expected after the way she had just behaved towards her friend.

"But hey, remember there is going to be 3 pokemon sent here for me to choose from? If we can get your mother to agree, then perhaps you can take one of the 2 remaining pokemon when I have picked mine and we can both leave on our separate journeys. Then when we meet on the road we can tell stories about all our adventures and perhaps even battle each other to see how far along we have come!" Serena suggested, the thought of having Shauna as a kind of trainer rival excitening her.

The brown haired girl blinked in surprise at the suggestion. Serena wanted her to get out on a journey too? Even after what she had said? Even though she sometimes tended to let her mouth run off without thinking about what she was saying? However, it really did sound like a good idea!

"That would be wonderful!" Shauna cooed as her eyes took on a dreamy look.

Serena chuckled and leaned back to take another zip of her own milkshake. She looked up towards the sky and felt happy that they had solved their little argument so quickly. She and Shauna rarely argued, even though she tended to get irritated when her friend let her mouth run off. Even though she and Shauna didn't share each other's views on what was important in the world or, like in this case, what was "fair", Shauna was still her best friend in the Kalos region. She would never replace Ash, no one would be able to do that, but if she had to make a list of best friends, Shauna would come in as a close second. As she thought about the boy who had had such a huge impact on her life, even after they split up, Serena unknowingly reach inside her pocket with one of her hands and touched the blue handkerchief that she had there. Perhaps, now that she was going to leave on a journey, she would meet him again some day? If Ash was also on a journey, then it was possible they would get closer and closer to each other until one day, they ran into each other somewhere. How would that feel? To stand in front of him again? Would he still be the same? Would _she _still be the same?

"C'mon Serena, let's go!" Shauna shouted suddenly, bringing Serena out of her daydreaming.

"Hm?" was all Serena got out as she had just taken a zip of her milkshake.

Shauna had stood up and was pulling at Serena's shirt, like a child trying to drag its mother over to the candy stand on a market place. As if her actions weren't enough, Shauna's eyes had taken on the same, hopeful sparkles that a child's eyes had when it was begging its mother for candy.

"If I am to get to leave on a journey with you, then we need to convince my mom that I can take care of myself! So come on, let's go home!" Shauna squealed excitedly as she tugged at Serena's shirt again.

However, Serena still had something she had to do before she could leave.

"Hold your horses! You got to finish your milkshake so I want to finish mine too before we leave."

By now Shauna had given up on tugging at Serena's shirt and was now standing a feet away, stomping with her foot on the ground like a big baby who wanted to get her favourite toy back.

"You can take it with you! Come on, come on! We don't have all day!" she hissed impatiently.

Chuckling at her friend's antics, Serena stood up and followed the other girl. There was just nothing stopping Shauna when she got like this, so there was no use arguing about it. And besides, Shauna was right. They would need to get home soon if they wanted to talk to Shauna's mother before she began cooking lunch or the conversation was doomed to fail. With that thought in mind, the two girls headed back towards Route 1 to walk the path back towards Vaniville Town.

**-X-X-X-**

While Ash and Brock was enjoying a discussion over a cup of forenoon coffee about Professor Sycamore's research, the Mega Evolution, and Serena and Shauna was on their way back to Vaniville Town to try and convince Shauna's mother to allow her daughter to go on a journey, another boy was making his way through the desert area that connected Coumarine City to the South Avenue of Lumiose City. He had just won his fourth Gym Badge in the Kalos region from the Courmarine Gym Leader, Ramos. Despite the older man's experience in Pokemon Battling, the fight had been one sided and Dusk hadn't even needed to reveal his last pokemon. Though he had to hand it to the Kalos Gym Leaders, they were overall stronger than they had been in Unova.

The boy's nanme was Dusk, but he was often referred to as "the Prodigy" by people who didn't know him. After 3 years of working in Hoenn at the Devon Corp, Dusk had recieved a request to come to the Kalos region by Professor Augustine Sycamore so that he could study his Garchomp for signs of Mega Evolution. As Dusk himself had not been involved in the research, he had decided that he might as well take the challenge of the Kalos League so that he had something to do while Garchomp was being researched. It felt strange to travel without his partner, but after having challenged 4 gyms he had begun wondering if he would have used Garchomp at all anyway. Even though they hadn't challenged a league for 3 years, Garchomp was still quite a bit stronger than the rest of his Pokemon, with the possible exception of the black, semi-humanoid Pokemon that was hovering behind him.

"Rai!" the Pokemon said as its lone blue visible eye was scanning the large city in the distance.

Dusk turned towards his pokemon with a questioning look. When the pokemon simply nodded in the direction of Lumiose City, he shrugged and turned back forward to keep walking.

"Yes Darkrai, it's Lumiose city." he said simply.

Though he himself didn't like to show off his legendary pokemon in public, Darkrai disliked to be confined in his Pokeball so when they were out of town, he was allowed to remain outside, on the condition that he would return into the pokeball once they got close to civilisation. Darkrai himself seemed content with those arrangements so Dusk didn't see any reason to change them.

"We should be there by nightfall." Dusk said as he picked up the pace slightly, preferring to arrive in the late afternoon rather than the early evening.

Seeing that his friend and trainer had picked up the pace, Darkrai increased the speed at which he was hovering. When he got up to hover just beside Dusk, he leaned towards his trainer and whispered something in his ear.

"Dark, Darkrai Dark...Rai!" he said with a snicker.

Dusk sweatdropped.

"You should stop making that Dusk joke, it is getting old." the boy said.

When Darkrai just kept on snickering at his trainer's expense, Dusk sighed and picked up the pace even more, which was a pretty useless attempt at escape as Darkrai could just hover faster to keep up without any strain on him at all. The Pitch-Black Pokemon eventually quieted down and returned to hovering just behind his trainer. He knew that Dusk was eager to see Garchomp again. Even though he himself was a proud Pokemon that wanted to prove his worth to his trainer, he knew he could never replace Garchomp to Dusk. He and Garchomp had travelled together since day one of their journey, back when the now mighty dragon was still a little Gible. Back then, he hadn't even known Dusk. Garchomp and Dusk shared a special bond and though Dusk rarely showed it off in public, he cared deeply for all of his Pokemon and Garchomp in particular. And even though Darkrai had been a little jealous of the Land Shark Pokemon at one time for the bond he shared with their trainer, he now knew that he wouldn't have it any other way.

As the two made their way through Route 13, the hours went by until Dusk finally dropped his bag when they came upon a large rock formation, deciding to stop for lunch.

"We'll take an hourlong break before we go any further. Try to realx while we got this shadow to hide in, the sun will probably get pretty intense in the afternoon." Dusk warned as he began unpacking all of his supplies and set up his camping stove to try and cook something together for himself, while at the same time pulling out a few bowls to fill with food for his pokemon. When he had filled them all, he loosened 3 Pokeballs from his belt and tossed them into the air, after which the small temporary camp was engulfed in a blinding white light.

**-X-X-X-**

Ash's eyes shone with excitement after Professor Sycamore had told him about the short list of Pokemon to be known to have the ability to Mega Evolve. It had been Garchomp of course, Blaziken, Lucario, Blastiose, Venasaur... and Charizard. Even though they were in the middle of a meal, Ash immediately stood up and released Charizard's pokeball from his belt in excitement.

"So you're saying that I could get my Charizard to evolve even further?" he said, barely able to contain his excitement.

By the table, Brock looked like he wanted to shake his head at Ash's behavior. How could he have thought that Ash had grown up? Well, he might have matured a little, but his manners were still the same. However, Professor Sycamore didn't seem to mind the intrusion upon the meal harmony, but seemed to be rather excited at this development.

"Ooh? You got a Charizard?" he said as he too stood up.

When Ash nodded with an eager look, Professor Sycamore told him to wait right there and then disappeared in the direction of the lab. By the table, Brock and Sophie, Professor Sycamore's assistant, sighed at the behavior of their respective "charges". In true Brock-spirit, the Pokemon Doctor-in-training had introduced himself to Sophie through a marriage proposal but unfortunately for him (and fortunately for Sophie and Ash, who had felt embarrassed by his friend's actions), the Garchomp that was living at the lab had percieved the strangers sudden advance on his caretaker as hostile and burnt him to a crisp with his Flamethrower. After that, Brock had refrained from trying anything with Sophie again.

Just then, Professor Sycamore returned from the laboratory with a metallic suitcase in his hand. Pulling out his own chair, he put down the suitcase and opened it to reveal two spherical stones. One was a bit larger than the other and shifted between blue and black in different tints while the smaller one shifted in many different colors. Both had a swirl in their core. Professor Sycamore picked up the smaller one.

"These are both Mega stones, used to Mega Evolve pokemon, however this is the one that is interesting for you: the Charizardite." he said as he held it out to Ash.

Ash had sparks in his eyes as he held out his own hand to accept the Charizardite. When Professor Sycamore dropped it in his hand, he could feel a spark race through his arm up to his head. It was as if the little stone pulsed with power.

"You're giving this to me?" he asked incredously.

Professor Sycamore laughed as he closed the suitcase again and put it down on the floor.

"Well, I am done studying it already, so it won't serve a purpose here at the lab. Perhaps if you take it with you, you will figure out how to Mega Evolve your Charizard." he said as he sat back down by the table.

If it had been possible, Brock thought Ash would have exploded with excitement. He looked down at the little stone with stars in his eyes and his hands was shaking with anticipation.

"Alright! Let's do it!" he said as he pulled back his arm to throw Charizard's pokeball. However, now Brock decided he had to bust in.

"Not before you're done with your lunch, you wont't!" he said with a sharp voice.

Ash froze half way through the motion. Brock sighed with relief. Given Charizard's signature release sequence, which included a randomly fired Flamethrower, it would not be a good idea to let him out inside the laboratory, not to mention it would completely ruin the meal. Sophie cast him an approving look as Ash reluctantly sat down by the table again to return to his meal.

* * *

**A/N: **_So, Ash has arrived in the Kalos region and Serena is going to get her first pokemon! Their reunion is drawing closer and I know a lot of you are excited to see what I will do about the Garchomp incident, so just hang on and I will give you the next chapter when I got time! Note: I got a Math test this friday so I got to study so don't expect updates before that. Wish me luck! XD_

_Now, many of you probably noticed my OC I introduced in this chapter, Dusk. And no, he won't be travelling with Ash and co but he will be a recurring character and a rival for Ash in a way. _

_O.C Profile:_

_**Dusk: **Dusk is a strong trainer from the Sinnoh region. He grew up in Celestic Town, along with his sister. When he was 10 years old, he was given a Gible and left on his journey. He participated in the Lily of the Valley Conference and won, earning himself the title Prodigy. He managed to beat the Elite Four but lost to the Champion Cynthia, after a raffling battle between their two Garchomp. After Sinnoh, Dusk travelled to the Unova region and won that league as well, though he turned down the Elite Four Challenge. The same happened after his win in the Hoenn region. Instead, he took a job at Devon Corporation and lived in Hoenn for 3 years. He proved to be a prodigy in his own right in science as well as Pokemon and still keeps up his research, even after returning to travelling. He recieved a personal invitation from Professor Sycamore to come to the Kalos Region so he could study his Garchomp. While Garchomp lives at the laboratory, Dusk decided to take another league challenge and have so far earned 4 badges._

**Pokemon Teams:**

**Ash Ketchum**

Pikachu: Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, Iron Tail, Electro Ball

Charizard: Flamethrower, Wing Attack, Slash, Dragon Tail

**Dusk**

Garchomp: Flamethrower, Dragon Rush, Stone Edge, Draco Meteor

Darkrai: Dark Pulse, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam

_And that is all for me right now. And before people go flaming me because Dusk is OP, think about it this way: Dusk was created to be an obstacle for Ash to overcome. If Ash wants to become the strongest trainer out there, then he will need to compete with the strongest. And those rivarlies he had with Gary and Trip... well, I felt like I wanted to make a character that would give a strong impression, which these two failed to do. Paul was a good rival, but I didn't feel like bringing him back. Now, I'm not saying I won't bring back other characters for other reasons, because I will definetely do that._

_Now, that is all I give you for this chapter. If you haven't voted in the poll, then please drop by and do that. And don't forget to review, I love those! Bye guys!_


	4. Chaos in Lumiose!

**A/N: **_Welcome back to another chapter of Serene Phoenix! I hope you will enjoy it! Since there have been some questions about why I didn't write this story with Bonnie and Clemont instead of Brock, I can say that I chose Brock because he is cool, random, awesome and an icon for people like me who grew up watching Pokemon as kids before I even learned to speak english. But just for the heck of it, there is now a poll up in my profile about who you want Ash's gang to consist of during the story. And to you who didn't like my OC Dusk because he was OP, well I admit I did that conciously because I wanted him to be an obstacle for Ash to overcome, and also to be like a kind of meassurement for how much Ash grows between their meetings. And to those who wondered about other earlier rivals, I never said I wouldn't include Paul and Trip. Oh, and someone mentioned Tobias could have been his rival for this story. I kindly suggest that person go back and read the nicely written "NOTE" in the beginning of chapter one, where I clearly state that Tobias does not exist in this universe. Now, go on and enjoy the story!_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon in any way, though I do have a pretty sweet collection of Pokemon Trading Cards! =)

* * *

**Chapter Four: **Chaos in Lumiose!

Ash and the others had just finished their meal at Professor Sycamore's lab when they heard someone calling from the doorway. Sophie excused herself and hurried out to meet newcomers. Meanwhile, Brock offered to clear the table while Professor Sycamore and Ash went out to the lab so that the latter could learn more about Mega Evolution. If he was to get Charizard to Mega Evolve, then he would need to learn more about the phenomenom and what had been known to trigger it in other situations. Apparently, the Kalos Champion Diantha was well known throughout the region as one of the few trainers who could initiate a Mega Evolution at will, in her case for her precious Gardevoir.

Brock had just finished clearing the table and come into the lab when they heard a pained roar echo through the building, followed by an explosion. Without thinking, all three darted towards the entrance hall where Sophie still was. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder to run ahead of his trainer. When they reached the hall, they found it in ruins, with a shell shocked Sophie having slumped by the closest wall. Professor Sycamore immediately rushed over to his assistant, with Brock and Ash close behind.

"Sophie! What happened here?" Professor Sycamore asked worriedly.

Sophie just shook her head and hid her face in her hands. She was obviously in a shocked state. Ash gave Brock a look and the two took a step away to give her some space to breathe. Meanwhile, Pikachu had gotten over to a spot that appeared to have been burned by something. There was a hole straight through the wall, which implied that it had been a powerful fire-type move that had done the deed. And from what Pikachu had seen, there was only 2 pokemon at the lab that could have possibly performed a fire-move powerful enough to cause this much damage, one of which had been with Ash at the time. Thus, there really was only one possible explanation for this hole...

Realizing this, Pikachu ran over to Ash and began pulling his leg. When the trainer looked down on his Pokemon, Pikachu pointed towards the hole.

"Hey Brock, I think Pikachu has found something." Ash said as he frowned at the hole and followed his little rodent over to the burn damage.

Brock looked up and followed Ash and Pikachu over to the damaged wall. Pikachu began to say his name rapidly while gesturing wildly with his arms. Ash bent down to examine the damage that had been done and came to the same conclusion as Pikachu: it had been done by a fire-type move.

"To cause this much damage, the pokemon that performed the attack must have been really powerful." Brock noted.

Ash barely heard him as his mind rushed with possible explanations. From the looks of it, whatever had happened here had been caused by the unexpected visitors. Or at least, they had to be partly responsible. Could they be the ones that brought the Pokemon that did the damage? No, then why would they have disappeared now? There had to be something else...

"Well, the only two Pokemon we know for sure could cause this much damage that are currently in the lab would be Garchomp and your Charizard, Ash. But since Charizard is safe inside his Pokeball, then Garchomp must have been the one to do this." Brock stated.

Hearing his friend's theory, Ash stood up.

"Huh? But why would Garchomp do such a thing? It seemed so nice and peaceful." Ash said.

While they were talking, Professor Sycamore had managed to get the shocked Sophie to her feet and was leading her over towards the others. When they got close enough, Sophie heard the last statement from Ash.

"It were those people." she said.

"Huh?" everyone in the room turned towards her. Pikachu's ears perked up, as if he wanted to show that he was listening carefully. Seeing that she had everyone's attention, Sophie took a step forward to explain what had happened.

"Three people came here, claiming to be researchers of Mega Evolution. When I didn't want to let them in without an indentity check, they pushed me away and entered on their own accord. Garchomp saw when they shoved me to the side and jumped in to stop them, but they fired some kind of device at him that attached itself to his neck and seemed to be causing him a lot of pain. He went ballistic in his attempts to get it off and began firing Flamethrowers in all directions." she explained with trembling voice, obviously still shaken up by the incident.

Ash sighed and put his head in his hands. Three people who showed up out of nowhere and claimed to be fellow researcher on what happened to be a project that involved enormous amounts of power? That sounded a bit too familiar for his taste.

"Did one of them happen to be unusually short and eventually turn out to be a talking Meowth?" he asked.

Beside him, he heard Brock gasp. Professor Sycamore looked at him like he was mad. A talking Meowth? That couldn't be! However, the reaction that interested Ash was Sophie's. Her eyes went wide as she stared at him with shock written all over her face.

"You know them?" she asked, confirming Ash's suspiscions.

At Ash's feet, Pikachu's cheeks began sparkling with electricity. Inside, Ash felt his emotions well up. First shock, then anger, then utter rage. Team Rocket was here! They had followed him here and now that they were here they had immediately began causing trouble. And on top of that, they had went after someone else's Pokemon! As if it wasn't bad enough that they were after Pikachu!

"Kind of. They're members of Team Rocket, an evil organisation from Kanto. This particular trio have been following me around since we first met 5 years ago, trying to steal my Pikachu!" Ash hissed through gritted teeth.

Professor Sycamore's eyes narrowed. If what Ash said was true and these three were members of an evil organisation and had come here in search of information on Mega Evolution, then that meant that this Team Rocket organisation either had or would get information on Mega Evolution! That was bad! In either case, they couldn't let these theifs escape!

"Sophie, what happened to these theifs?" he asked in panic.

"They got sent flying when Garchomp hit them with a Dragon Rush. That was when he broke out of the lab." Sophie said, with her hand resting on her chest, trying to calm her beating heart.

Hearing that Garchomp was loose in the city, Ash quickly turned and ran for the exit. He shouted over his shoulder that he would need to stop Garchomp before anyone got hurt. Brock was quick to run after him, but not before he had told Sophie to try and sit down to calm her racing pulse. Professor Sycamore shouted after them to be careful as Garchomp was a really strong pokemon, but Ash and Brock was already out of earshot.

Figuring he couldn't do much more at the moment, Professor Sycamore proceeded to help Sophie get back to the kitchen to sit down on a chair. After checking her over for any possible wounds, he was glad to find that at least she hadn't been hurt when Garchomp went on a rampage. However, once that worry was laid to rest, he felt worry stir for the rest of the city. Garchomp as a species were among the strongest pokemon one could find in Sinnoh, possibly the strongest of them all if you didn't count their legendary Pokemon, but this particular Garchomp was outstanding even for his own species. The only Pokemon to have ever defeated Dusk's Garchomp in a one on one battle was Champion Cynthia's own Garchomp, during their match for the title of Sinnoh League Champion. Ash was strong, he knew that much from Professor Oak's boasting and Brock, as a former Gym Leader must have some skills, but could they match up to Garchomp's pure strenght?

"We need to call Dusk. He is close to Lumiose so he should be able to get here fast if we call him right now. If someone can calm Garchomp down, it would be him." Sycamore said and went over to the phone to call the young trainer.

**-X-X-X-**

Dusk knew the same moment he entered the city that something was wrong. He could hear sirens in the distance and when he looked up, a really powerful Flamethrower shot across the sky. His eyes narrowed. He recognized that Flamethrower. Why was Garchomp out of the lab? And why was he using a move in the middle of a street?

Just when he thought he should call Professor Sycamore to ask what in the world was going on, his cellphone rang. He switftly pulled it out and help it to his ear.

"Yes? This is Dusk." he said.

"Dusk? We got a problem." a familiar voice said from the other end of the phone line.

Recognizing the voice, Dusk sighed. Just the person he was about to call, perfect! However, while he felt glad that he had gotten in contact with the professor, the fact that Sycamore had taken the time to call him personally so shortly after their last talk meant that there had to be something really wrong here.

"Yeah, i recon. Why is Garchomp out of the lab? And better yet, does it seem that he is causing trouble?" Dusk asked, worried for his partner. Garchomp wasn't the type to cause unnescesary trouble. Something must have happened to him.

"Well, that might be because... eh... it _is _him that's causing trouble. Some guys showed up at the lab and used some kind of device at Garchomp, causing him to go berserk."

Sycamore went on to tell him about the incident, just like Sophie had told it to himself. The more Dusk heard, the more he felt his emotions build. Cold rage was starting to flow through him like a poison. No one did that to his pokemon! As usual, the emotions he was feeling didn't show on his face, except for that his steel blue eyes became harder, but the anger he was feeling that someone had done that to his partner, his friend, was real.

"I see..." he said, the chill in his voice leaking through even the phone and causing Sycamore to shiver on the other side. "So what's your current status? Are there anyone out to try and subdue Garchomp?"

Even though he couldn't see it, he could almost feel Sycamore twist on the other end. The time he took to answer and the uncertainty of his voice told Dusk all he needed to know, more than the words. He had sent out all of his assistants on field duty.

"Ehm, well we got this trainer, Ash, who came by the lab on his tail." Sycamore answered.

The name picked Dusk's interest, and caused him to temporarily forget the crisis at hand.

"Ash? Ash Ketchum?" he asked with an emotionless voice.

"Hm? You know him? Anyway, I need to get out there to try and find Garchomp. I'll see you at the scene." Sycamore said before he hastily hung up.

Dusk, reminded of the situation at hand, put away the cellphone and increased his pace. He raced down the streets towards the more central parts of Lumiose City. However, his mind had wandered off slightly when he heard that name.

_'So Ash Ketchum is here, huh? Interesting. Perhaps I'll finally get to see why my sister speaks to highly of this kid.'_ he thought as he turned to the left in a corner and took off down an abandonned alley.

**-X-X-X-**

"Mom! I got something to talk to you about!"

As Shauna made her prescence known at her home, Serena just sighed and walked in after the hyperactive girl. That was Shauna for you, she could never say anything in a normal tone of voice but just had to go and make a loud impression on everyone within a 3 miles radius. As they made their way to the kitchen, they found Shauna's mom cooking lunch by the stove while her younger brother, Sean, was sitting by the table with a laptop in front of him. He was apparently in the middle of a game of some sort as he didn't even look up to acknowledge his sister and her friend's prescence. Serena took one look at him and shook her head. What was with kids these days? When she had been 5 years old, she had been spending all her time outside, playing in the woods with Ash. Nowadays, kids always just wanted to sit by computers or play video games. Sure, they could be fun once in a while, but it wasn't something Serena would like to do very often or she would get bored. Apparently however, the kids these days didn't agree with her.

"Oh, you're already home? I thought you said you would be gone for the day, Shauna?" her mother asked from the stove.

Shauna shook her head as she made her way over towards his little brother and ruffled his hair in their usual greeting. And just as usual, Sean tried to escape the ruffling, and failed as he didn't want to leave his computer game.

"Change of plans." Shauna said as she ruffled her annoyed brother's hair. "I had something I really needed to talk to you about."

Sean had now taken to trying to ignore his sister's antics, but was finding it hard. She eventually stopped ruffling his hair. Serena stood in the doorway and looked on. If Shauna was getting into an argument with her mother over her journey again, she didn't want to be in the line of fire, but she still wanted to be close if Shauna needed her to back her up. However, before Shauna could utter a word, a furious cry echoed through the kitchen, causing all three of the women to jump.

"LOOK! NOW I DIED! IT'S YOUR FAULT SHAUNA! YOU'RE MEAN!" Sean screamed as a sign saying "Game Over" came up on his screen.

Blinking, as if trying to understand that he was actually talking to her, Shauna took a moment before she got red in the face.

"I didn't do that! You died because of your own, lousy skills! Quit blaming me all the time, you big baby!" Shauna retorted angrily, her temper flaring up.

As the two siblings got into a shouting match over whether or not Shauna was responsible for Sean losing his game, Shauna's mother caught Serena's eyes and waved her over. Casting a side along glance at the two fighting siblings, Serena could see that Shauna wouldn't get to ask her mother the question they had come here for anytime soon, so she entered the room and made her way over to the stove.

"Are you staying for lunch, Serena?" Shauna's mother managed to ask her over the argument that was still going on in the background.

Thinking that she might as well spend as much time she could with Shauna before she left, Serena accepted the offer and thanked her politely. Nodding in understanding, Shauna's mother turned back to the stove to finish the meal. Serena looked over towards the still arguing siblings and saw that Shauna had begun pulling at her pigtails in her frustration. That was a really bad omen. When Shauna pulled her pigtails, she was close to blowing up.

"Shauna! Didn't we come here for a particular reason?!" Serena interrupted with a sharp voice.

This caused both siblings to stop their arguing and turn to look at Serena. Behind her, Shauna's mother drew a sigh of relief that her children had stopped their argument. She had learned a long time ago that those two wouldn't listen to her even if she tried to break them up, so it was best just to let them get it out of their system, as long as it didn't go too far.

"Oh, right!" Shauna said as she stepped away from her brother and slowly made her way over to her mother.

Seeing his sister act nervous caused Sean to frown. He had never seen her consider her moves so carefully before. While Shauna tried to pick out the words she was going to use, Serena took a step away from the mother and daughter and instead walked over to where Sean was sitting. While the boy could be annoying at times, he was always nicer with her than he was with Shauna, possibly because Serena was a bit kinder towards him than his sister.

"Mom, I wanted to ask you..." Shauna began, but got cut off.

"You wanted to ask me if you could leave on a journey too, now that Serena is leaving?" her mother cut in.

Shauna's eyes widened in surprise that her mother knew and turned towards Serena, silently asking if she had told her while she had Sean had been arguing. However, Serena's eyes were as big as Shauna's. Sean also seemed surprised at hearing this and perked his ears to listen in on this conversation. After all, he himself wanted to become a Pokemon trainer when he got older.

"Grace called me to tell me that Serena had decided to go on a journey and she suggested it might be a good idea for you two to be travelling together." Shauna's mom said, her voice not betraying any hint of what she thought about this idea.

Hearing that, Serena frowned and began wondering if her mother perhaps was more worried about her going on a journey than she let on. So far, her mother had seemed very supportive of her going on a journey as, well, it had been her who initiated the contact with Professor Sycamore in the first place, but this made it out like she was worried about Serena's well being. Not that she didn't want to travel with Shauna, but it felt to Serena like she wanted to have her own travelling experiences. If she and Shauna would be travelling together, then that would pretty much take the sting out of their planned rivalry.

Shauna however, had taken to looking at her mother with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. If Grace had called and talked to her about it, then surely she had to think it was a good idea?

"So what do you think? Can I go?" she asked eagerly.

The entire room tensed up as Shauna's mother looked at her daughter. Serena leaned against a chair by the table while her eyes were fixed on the two women standing by the stove. Beside her, Sean was looking up at his mother expectantly. Over by the stove, Shauna was still looking at her mother with an excited gleam in her eyes. After a moment of studying her daughter, Shauna's mother sighed.

"You have matured since you were 10, but I'm not sure if you're ready yet. I'm just not sure if you would be able to handle it." she said.

In a matter of miliseconds, Shauna's hopeful eyes went from hopeful, to shocked, to sad, to angry. Serena sensed that another argument was coming up and decided to get herself and Sean out of there. While Sean had probably seen his mother and sister argue more time than he could count, Serena didn't think it would be a good idea to leave him there. Sean was too much like Shauna in the fact that he sometimes broke in and said things he shouldn't, and this situation was fragile as it was.

"What do you mean "I don't think you could handle it"?!" Shauna growled, her voice taking on a "baby tone" when she said the last part.

Seeing that Shauna's mother tensed up to retort, Serena pulled at Sean shirt to get his attention.

"C'mon Sean. Let's go watch some TV." she said with a stressed voice, wanting to get out of he kitchen before the situation blew up.

Hearing that they would be watching TV, Sean didn't complain and clumsily got out of his chair, after which he followed Serena out of the room. When they had both exited the kitchen, Serena closed the door, hoping to keep the noise locked up in that room. The two of them made their way into the living room, which didn't have much other than an old sofa and some armchairs, along with the television and some gadgets. Sean immediately occupied the sofa and laid down in a lazy position. Serena grabbed the remote and sat down in one of the armchairs.

"So, what are we watching?" Sean asked eagerly.

Serena turned on the television and shrugged.

"I'm not sure. We'll see what we can find." she answered simply as she began flipping through the different channels.

She had been at it for about 10 seconds when something caught her attention. She stopped her flipping to see what it was. Sean groaned when he realized it was the News they were watching.

_"We're reporting live from Lumiose City where a Garchomp have gotten out of control and gone on a rampage throughout the city. So far, no one have been seriously hurt, but if no one stops it, it will only be a matter of time. With me, I got Professor Augustine Sycamore, who claims that the Garchomp is living at his lab."_

The reporter turned the microphone towards the man that had just entered the screen. It was the same man Serena had been talking to just this morning. However, the happy smile that had graced his lips when he was talking about his research and explaining about starter pokemon was gone and in its place was a grim, stressed look.

_"That's right. Garchomp was living at the lab, helping me with my research. He is usually not an aggressive pokemon, but from what my assistant tells me, he was exposed to some kind of device that caused him to go berserk because of the pain it caused him. We are only out to calm him down, not to defeat him." _Professor Sycamore said.

Serena tried to scatter her mind for a picture of the pokemon that was apparently loose in Lumiose City, only about a day's march from where she lived. If she remembered correctly, Garchomp was a Dragon-type pokemon that lived in caves and desert areas. And if she had done her homework correctly during Professor Oak's Pokemon Summer Camp all those years ago, Dragon-types were the one type that was almost solely adapted to battle. Also, Dragon-types were among the most ferocious of battlers and was never easy to take down.

_"What meassures have you taken to try and calm Garchomp down so far? Have you sent anyone after him?"_ the reporter wanted to know.

_"Well, Garchomp's trainer, Dusk, is on his way here as we speak and if someone can calm Garchomp down, it would be him. Also, we got another trainer tailing Garchomp since he feld the lab that we hope can keep him under control long enough for help to arrive."_

Subconciously, Serena clenched her hand over her chest. The professor sounded so unsure of the situation and the thought that it was happening just a little bit away from where she currently was made Serena feel helpless and scared her slightly. What if Garchomp managed to come here? What would happen to Vaniville Town if a pokemon like that got loose here?

Just as she thought about it, the scene on the screen was thrown into chaos. A loud roar echoed from somewhere behind the reporter and the people had just enough time to look up to see the Flamethrower heading their way. Professor Sycamore threw himself to the ground and dragged the reporter with him as the camera man followed his example. In the wake of the Flamethrower, a large, purple dragon-like pokemon with a dorsal fin on its back came flying towards them. Serena gasped in fright and immediately reached over to try and cover Sean's eyes. Regardless of what he thought, this was not something a 5 year old should see. The question was, would she be able to watch it herself?

**-X-X-X-**

Professor Sycamore looked up and spotted Garchomp for the first time since he had left the lab to try and find the run away pokemon. The dragon had its jaws tightly shut, as if trying to keep himself from blasting anything if he could held it. That was a good sign, as that meant that Garchomp was at least slightly concious of what was happening. However, his eyes were glowing red and around his neck, some kind of energy collar was strapped. That had to be the device that Sophie had mentioned. Just as he looked at it, the collar sent a pulse of some kind throughout Garchomp's body, causing the dragon to scream out in pain and unleash another Flamethrower in their direction.

"Charizard! Use Wing Attack and intercept that Flamethrower!" came a shout from somewhere behind them.

Out of nowhere, a large, orange dragon-like pokemon appeared and landed in front of them. Charizard's wings began to glow white before he folded them in front of him as a shield just before the Flamethrower hit. Professor Sycamore had to close his eyes from the heat that slipped through their defense, but at least they weren't roasted. However, Garchomp's attack didn't let up and began pushing Charizard back. His Wing Attack was losing its power after a few moments and he began growling as the heat took its toll on him. Ultimately, he was unable to hold his defense and got hit by the last remnants of the Flamethrower. Growling in pain, he fell backwards but was quickly back on his feet.

"Are you guys ok?" Ash asked as he and Brock came up from behind the reporter and Professor.

Brock felt frustrated with the situation. So far, he hadn't been able to do anything to help, since the only pokemon he had with him was Croagunk and he was put on a disadvantage due to Garchomp's ability to fly. So far, Ash's Charizard had managed to hold his own against Garchomp, but still he couldn't completely subdue him and Garchomp wasn't actually trying to fight them. If they were to stop it, they would need more pokemon that could fly.

"We're fine, thanks to you." Professor Sycamore answered as he stood up and helped the reporter to her feet.

While they had been talking, Garchomp had flown off again, in direction of Prism Tower. Ash and Brock excused themselves as they took off after the escaping dragon, while Professor Sycamore said he would catch up with them. Without wasting any time, he pulled out his cellphone to call Dusk and tell him that Garchomp was heading towards Prism Tower.

**-X-X-X-**

In the armchair in Shauna's living room, Serena was trying to calm her racing heart at what she had just seen. The camera had been turned off just as that orange Pokemon had jumped in front of the Professor and the reporter. What had happened? What had happened to the reporter and the Professor? Had they been hurt? Just thinking about what could have happened made her feel cold inside. Was that what could happen when Pokemon grew up and became strong? Would she find herself in one of those battles as well? Suddenly, she found herself unsure if she really wanted to go on her journey. What if her Pokemon got out of control like Garchomp and hurt someone?

"Serena? What's wrong?"

Serena flinched when she heard the voice. She hadn't noticed that Shauna had entered the room. The brown haired girl didn't look overly happy with how her talk with her mother had went but it had been overridden by her worry for her friend when she saw the look on Serena's face. It was one of shock, mixed in with horror. When she met Shauna's eyes, Serena realized she was shaking.

Noticing that her friend had been shaken up by whatever they had shown on the TV, Shauna went over and hugged her. Serena tensed slightly but didn't pull away. She just drew a shivering breath to try and calm down.

"There is an incident in Lumiose City. A Garchomp has gone berserk and is currently wrecking the city. They showed a live clip but the connection was cut when Garchomp attacked the TV team." Serena told Shauna with shaking voice.

Shauna didn't know what she was supposed to do. She had never seen Serena this shaken up before. What she described sounded horrible, but was it really something to be this cut up about? A movement caught Shauna's eye and she looked over towards the sofa, where her younger brother still sat. He looked sulky for some reason, Shauna didn't know why, but a sulky Sean was never something funny to deal with.

"Go back to your computer games, I need to talk to Serena." she said and gave her brother a sharp look, silently telling him not to argue with her this time or he would never see the end of it.

Though he looked like he wanted to ignore the warning, something told him that his sister was meaning business so he just stuck out his tongue towards her and stood up to leave. Shauna waited until Sean had left the room and closed the door behind him before she turned back to Serena, who had sat up straight by herself. She seemed to be deep in thought.

"Serena, tell me what is really bothering you. I understand that what is happening in Lumiose is horrible but there must be something else on your mind that worries you? I know you and you're not one to be scared easily." Shauna asked with worry.

Serena looked over at Shauna. Would she be able to understand? She wasn't sure if she herself completely understood what she was feeling. It wasn't really fear, but still in a way it was. It really couldn't quite be explained, it was too complicated. Silently, Serena reached over with her right hand to clutch the blue handkerchief she had tied around her left wrist to try and calm herself down and get enough courage to talk about it. It helped, a little.

"I'm not sure how to explain it. It's a complicated feeling." she said as she tried to come up with a way to tell her friend how she felt.

"Try!" Shauna encouraged her.

Taking a dee breath to try and calm her swirling thoughts, Serena did her best to come up with a way of describing what she felt.

"Well, it's just that I have never seen so much chaos in one place and it was all caused by Pokemon. And I guess it kind of made me doubt if I really want my own Pokemon... What if I can't control it and it hurts someone?" she said. It felt like a lame explanation for what she was feeling, but it was the best she could come up with. Shauna looked at her like she couldn't believe her ears.

"Serena? Have you been living with your head stuck in the sand? Things like this happens around us all the time!" she said in exaspration.

It was apparently not the right thing to say, because Serena's eyes shot wide open in shock. She stared at Shauna as if she was mad, sincerely hoping she was just trying on a bad joke at a bad time, but Shauna didn't give any indication that she was joking. Seeing that her statement had scared the crap out of Serena, Shauna went on to explain.

"Think about it, Pokemon exists all over the world. They possess incredible amounts of different powers and can do these really awesome things. Do you really think that no one has ever lost control of that power for one reason or another?"

Apparently, she had thought that because her face went white. Truth to be told, Serena had never thought about it that way. However, now that Shauna mentioned it, it really didn't seem that strange. But even if that was true and stuff like this happened all around the world, that still didn't solve her fear.

"But still, what if I end up hurting someone because I can't control my Pokemon?" she asked, trying not to imagine what it would feel like if one of her Pokemon got on a rampage and did as much damage as she had just seen on the TV.

"Well, it still wouldn't be you who ordered the attack, would it? And whoever this Garchomp's trainer is, I doubt he was the one who ordered Garchomp to go on a rampage. You can't just give something up because it _might _go wrong. I mean, it's the same thing as when you're going for a swim in the river. It is something nice, but you _might _stand on a Clauncher by accident, but you don't refrain from going for a swim because that _might _happen, do you?" Shauna said.

This had an affect, she thought. Serena's eyes seemed to wander off for a moment, as their owner became deep in thought.

Yes... Shauna was right. No matter what you did, things might go wrong but you couldn't stop doing them just because something you didn't want to happen might happen. When you breathed, you might accidently breathe in a bug and when you walked in the street, you might accidently trip on a cobblestone, but you couldn't refrain from doing any of those things. Slowly, an old memory from back when she still lived in Kanto made its way into her mind.

_**-X-Flashback-X-**_

_It was a bright, sunny summer day. The bird pokemon was chirping in the trees and the forest was buzzing with life. In the small town of Pallet, these days were godsend. It just put everyone in a good mood. People always felt happy during these days, no matter what their problems might be. And so was the case for two young children living in the town as well._

_"C'mon Serena! I'll race ya there! If you don't hurry, it will be dark before you get into the water!" a raven haired boy of 7 years laughed as he rushed out of his best friend's front door and hurried off towards the forest._

_It had been early in the morning when Ash came by, as usual. He had wanted to go to their favourite swimming spot in the forest, a river that floated at a secluded place where no other people ever came around. It was like having their own private bathing. _

_"Hey cheater! You got a headstart!" Serena shouted after her friend as she too ran out of her house and took off after her best friend, laughing with joy. _

_These days were always fun. Going for swins were among the best things they knew. It had been something they enjoyed doing when they got a break from Pokemon Summer Camp last year and it was certainly something they had kept up since then. The water was soothing and they always had fun playing together. _

_Ash managed to increase the gap between them but stopped when he reached the edge of the forest to wait for Serena to catch up. Panting slightly from the run, Serena caught up with Ash and the two entered the forest, smiling at one another. They walked for about 10 minutes before they reached their spot. Since they had both changed into their swimwear back at Serena's house, they barely dropped off their stuff before they both ran for the water._

_"Last one in is a rotten Exeggcute!" Ash exclaimed as he pushed past Serena and jumped into the water, creating a big "splash". _

_Serena giggled at her friend and jumped in after him. She had barely resurfaced before Ash began teasing her about being a rotten Exeggcute. She pouted at him, but when that didn't get him to stop, she resolved to take more drastic meassures. Her face twisted into a mischievous grin and too late, Ash realized that he was doomed. Serena reached forward and sent a large amount of water splashing into Ash's face. Ash glared at her with mock anger, while Serena stuck her tongue out at him playfully. Smirking evilly, Ash returned the fire, soaking Serena from head to toe (which really didn't say much as the lower part of her body was standing in water, but still...). _

_"This means war, Mr Ketchum!" Serena giggled as she thrust a new wave of water at Ash. _

_The two friends kept playing together in the water, trying to get the other as wet as possible. The water flew in all directions as Ash and Serena was fighting for dominance in the water. They had been at it for 30 minutes when suddenly, Serena jumped high and screamed. Ash was startled by her sudden scream and fell backwards into the water in surprise. When he resurfaced, Serena was standing with her arms folded around herself, sniffling._

_"Serena? What's the matter?" he asked, worried about his friend._

_Serena just sobbed and shook her head. She seemed to hurt somewhere. Ash immediately made his way over to his friend and scooped her up into his arms to help her get back to solid ground. She was made pretty light as they were in the water. When they reached the shore, he lifted her onto the ground and layed her down on her back to try and see what was wrong, but he didn't have to search for long. With her left foot in a tight grip, a Krabby had come up along with Serena. _

_"Hey! Let go of her!" Ash commanded the Krabby and swiped his hand at it to get it to let go. _

_And miraculously, the Krabby did let go of Serena's foot. When she felt its grip losen, Serena stopped sniffling and looked down to find why the Krabby had let her go. It had let go of her feet, but instead it had grabbed the hand Ash had swiped at it by the thumb, which was quickly turning red. A second later, Ash let out a yell and jumped up and began shaking his hand to get rid of the Krabby. After a brief struggle, the Krabby got dizzy from all the shaking and let go of his thumb, causing it to go flying back into the water. Once rid of his unwanted passanger, Ash crawled back over to Serena._

_"Are you ok, Serena?" he asked while bending down to check on her foot. It had a red mark where the Krabby's claw had gripped it. Carefully, he began massaging the red mark and blow on it to try and soothe the pain. Not for the first time, Serena found herself stunned by her friend's care for her._

_"Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself? It grabbed you just as hard as it grabbed me." she asked._

_Ash just looked up at her and smiled. That smile always sent shivers down her spine for some reason. It made her feel warm inside and suddenly, her foot felt better already._

_"Nah, don't worry about that. It's not worse than shutting my finger in the bathroom door." he said with a cheekish grin._

**_-X-End of Flashback-X-_**

When Ash had asked her to go back into the water with him, Serena had refused because she was afraid to get pinched by another Krabby. Ash had went along with it that day and they had just gone back home and played in Ash's garden instead. However, when he had dropped by to get her for their swim the next day, she had also bluntly refused to go near the water. He had managed to convince her to at least come watch him, since they weren't allowed to go swim if they weren't together, but he never got her closer to the water than 3 meters. This kept on repeating itself for the entire week until Ash finally had had enough and dragged her back down to the water. When she realized what he had planned, Serena had panicked and began fighting against him to try and break lose, but had failed. She had actually hit him in the face with a frustrated slap, but he had just shrugged it off, though it had left a big, red hand-mark on his cheek.

While Serena had been shocked that she had slapped her best friend, Ash had taken the seized the opportunity and hurled her into the water, clothes and all. Once back into the water, Serena's fear of Krabby and by extent the water it lived in came back full force and she had began trashing around to get back up on dry land, but Ash had blocked the way.

**_-X-Flashback-X-_**

_"Move it!" Serena shouted in panic as she desperately tried to get past Ash, but the water slowed her down too much to be able to feint her way past him. _

_Serena felt her panic build for each second she spent in the water. She had to get back on land! But standing in her way was Ash! She didn't understand what had gotten into him. Why was he doing this to her? They were best friends! The mere thought that the one person she cared for more than anything else was doing this to her caused tears to well up in her eyes. She didn't know if they were tears of sadness, anger or the feeling of betrayal that was welling up in her chest, but whatever the reason, she couldn't stop them._

_"What's wrong with you, Serena? You used to love the water!" Ash said, doing his best to keep the sadness he was feeling from entering his voice. He hated himself for doing this to Serena, but it was too late to back down now._

_"Oh yeah? Well, I don't now! Let me through!" she screamed at him as she charged him._

_When she got within range, Ash jumped at her and threw his arms around her to keep her from exiting the water. Serena struggled and screamed in desperation as she tried to break lose. When she found that she couldn't she tried to kick Ash on the shin to get him to losen his grip but the water slowed her down too much for it to actually hurt. Feeling helpless in Ash's grip, Serena was close to hysterical._

_"I hate you!" she cried as the tears finally spilled over. Why was he doing this? She didn't understand. This wasn't the Ash she knew and loved! He would never do something like this to her!_

_Ash didn't answer. He was too busy holding her back to be able to utter a word, but if he would, he would have said how much those words hurt him. He couldn't believe that even when in a panicked state, Serena would say that to him. But he had to keep holding her. She couldn't get out of the water or all this would have been for nothing. And so, he kept his grip on the honey-blonde girl firm and didn't let up._

_After 20 minutes of struggling, Serena had tired out and gone almost limp in his arms. She was too tired to scream at him any longer. Ash's heart went out to his friend as she turned her face towards him. Her honey-blonde hair had been all messed up from the trashing and her usually clear blue eyes was red from all the crying she had done. She looked completely broken._

_"Why? Why are you doing this?" she whipsered with a tearful voice._

_Ash bit his lip. This was it. Either she would see it his way and forgive him or she would think that he had completely lost his mind._

_"Don't you see, Serena? You have been in the water for 20 minutes and nothing has happened." he whispered back. _

_Serena's eyes shot wide open at that declaration. 20 minutes? She had been in the water for 20 MINUTES? As the shock settled down on her, she felt Ash tighten his grip around her again, but this time it felt different. It wasn't a grip meant to hold her back. It was a hug._

_"I'm sorry Serena. But the water isn't dangerous! You used to love swimming. Remember all the countless hours we've spent here, playing and having fun? Remember last summer, when we first found this place? How special it felt for us? I still feel the same way. This is our place! Are you really gonna let a lousy Krabby take that away from us?" he asked._

_Hearing what he was asking from her, Serena realized that he was right. All that time... all those countless hours they had spent here and not once before this week had she been pinched by a Krabby. Was she really gonna let that destroy all that this place meant to her? All that they had built together here since last year?_

**_-X-End of Flashback-X-_**

No! She hadn't let the Krabby incident ruin her love for swimming and she wouldn't let this Garchomp incident ruin her love for Pokemon! After the long struggle in the water, Serena had felt sick to her stomach with the way she had acted against Ash and all she had screamed at him. As usual, he had just shrugged it off but Serena had made a point of getting him something especially nice for his birthday that year.

"You're right Shauna. We can't stop doing things just because they might go wrong, because everything can go wrong in one or another way!" Serena said as she felt a new determination fill her. From now on, she would not hesitate! She would face whatever got thrown in her way head on! Looking over at her brown-haired friend, who was smiling now that Serena had come back to her senses, Serena wondered for a moment if this was how Shauna felt every day. It might explain why she never backed down from a confrontation.

"That's the spirit, gal! And besides, you didn't think you could stay back here when I went out on a journey, did you?" Shauna said as she blinked at her friend.

It took a moment for Serena to prossess what she had just said. Then she remembered why they had come back to Shauna's house in the first place!

"She let you go?!" Serena squealed.

Shauna hung her head a little.

"Well, it's not official yet. She said she wanted to talk to Professor Sycamore's representant when he or she arrived here to give you your Pokemon, but that she would consider letting me go until then." Shauna said, giving her friend a half smile.

This caused Serena to feel a lot lighter at heart. It wasn't exactly what they had been hoping for, but at least it was something. And if Shauna was confident she could handle a journey, then surely Serena could manage it. If any of them failed, they would fail together.

**-X-X-X-**

After having struggled for the entire afternoon, Garchomp had finally settled down somewhat on top of Prism Tower. The tower had been evacuated and the roads leading to it had been blocked off. A large crowd of people had gathered at the blocks and was watching the police work with securing the area. In the middle of those people, were Ash and Brock. Ash, Brock and Pikachu were all staring up to where Garchomp was standing. Garchomp had proven to be too powerful to be able to subdue with only Charizard hunting him, mainly because Charizard quickly tired from taking hits while he himself didn't throw too much back at him.

"Ash!"

The trio turned around to find Professor Sycamore running their way. In his wake, a blonde boy with a large backpack, dressed in a light blue jumpsuit followed.

"Professor Sycamore!" Ash replied as the pokemon professor and the unknown boy came to a stop in front of him. They were both panting slightly and the boy even bent over, obviously not very used to running. Either that or the backpack was as heavy as it looked.

"This is Clemont. He is the Gym Leader here in Lumiose City. He offered to help us subdue Garchomp."

Ash thought about it for a second. While in the past, he would just have charged straight ahead into the situation, believing that they would have more success now that they had more help, but this time he felt like maybe that was not the best option. Charizard was already tired from having hunted Garchomp the entire afternoon and he mere fact that Garchomp still had energy left at all after the amount it had already let out during the rampage suggested that it was well trained. No matter what Pokemon the Gym Leader might have, Garchomp would still be a challenge to try and control by force and with Charizard out of the picture, Ash didn't really stand a fighting chance with only Pikachu against a ground type.

"With all due respect, I don't think we can subdue Garchomp by force. Now that Charizard is too tired to fight, I won't be able to do much with only Pikachu. So if you go up there to fight, then you'll be on your own. And Garchomp doesn't really want to fight us. If that had been the case, then he wouldn't be hiding up there."

At this, Professor Sycamore put his hand to his chin in deep thought. The boy, Clemont, didn't say anything as he turned towards the professor, waiting to hear what he thought about the situation.

"Hmm, so you're saying you think Garchomp is hiding up in the tower because he doesn't want to fight someone and risk hurting them?" Brock asked, impressed that Ash actually used his head for once.

Ash turned back to Brock for a second, before he looked back up towards the tower. Over the edge, Garchomp was barely visible.

"Yeah. Why would it be hiding up there if that wasn't it? It sure doesn't need to be scared of losing a battle. That Garchomp is really powerful. Even my Charizard couldn't handle it." Ash said as he pulled out Charizard's pokeball and held it for a second, considering his option. He needed to do something, but all he could do now was try to reach the peacful and kind Garchomp he had met at the lab. Taking a deep breath, he threw Charizard pokeball, releasing his exhausted Fire-type.

Charizard looked like he definetely had seen better days. He wasn't really hurt, but he was panting from the earlier excersize he had gotten when hunting Garchomp around the city and his wings were folded behind his back, unlike the usual proud displayal they usually were in. He didn't even give off his signature roar when he was released, and that was saying something.

"Hey buddy. Think you can do me one last favour?" Ash asked of his orange lizard pokemon. When his friend looked at him and then nodded, he continued. "I need you to fly me to the top of the tower. I'm gonna try to talk to Garchomp, now that he have calmed down a little."

In the background, Professor Sycamore was gobsmacked at the suggestion Ash was making and immediately tried to get him to change him mind, saying it was too dangerous, but Ash only had eyes for Charizard. Brock watched the two of them from the side. For a moment, he wondered if Charizard would refuse due to it being too tired, but then he saw something in Charizard's eyes. They were sparkling with determination as he nodded to Ash.

Seeing that his friend agreed, Ash told Pikachu to hold on tight to his shoulder and swung himself up onto Charizard's back as the Flame Pokemon spread his wings and took off. Brock looked after his friend as they soared off towards the tower.

"Why would Charizard agree to take his trainer close to a pokemon he had gotten beaten by if he knew it was dangerous?"

Upon hearing the voice, Brock turned around. It had been the Gy Leader, Clemont, who had asked the question. The blonde boy was staring up at the tower where Ash had just landed.

"They have known each other almost since Ash started his journey. Charizard knows that even if he refused to take Ash up there, he would just find another way to get up there." he answered the young boy.

This filled Clemont with wonder as he looked up at the tower. If Charizard really trusted Ash that much, then the bond between those two had to be strong. Beside him, Professor Sycamore was thinking along the same lines. Even if Charizard knew Ash that well, it would still require a great amount of respect and trust to willing go along with it without questioning. In that moment, it felt apparent to Professor Sycamore that sooner or later, Ash and Charizard would be able to Mega Evolve.

Up in the tower, Ash jumped back as Garchomp fired a Flamethrower in his direction. By his side, Pikachu's cheeks had began sparkling in response in to the threat. Garchomp saw them and began backing away.

"Wait Garchomp! Let me help you!" Ash called out, causing the Land Shark Pokemon to stop for a moment. Seeing that he had Garchomp's attention, Ash held out his hand to show that he didn't mean any harm.

"Listen Garchomp. I understand that it hurts! That collar is causing you a lot of pain, isn't it? But please, calm down so I can get it off you! Your trainer is on his way here and he will be here any minute now! Everything will be alright!"

That had an effect. Hearing that Dusk was on his way caused Garchomp's eyes to widen. He began struggling harder against the collar that was sending spasms of pain through his body and let out a desperate roar.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted at his fellow Pokemon, trying to tell him to calm down.

In reponse, Garchomp took to the air again and tried to fly higher up in the tower. Ash called out for him to come back down but he either didn't listen or didn't hear him. Looking around for a way to go up after him, Ash spotted a ladder that led up to the highest level. Picking up Pikachu as he went, he began climbing the ladders with determination burning in his eyes.

**-X-X-X-**

Back in Vaniville Town, Serena was sitting outside her house, patting Rhyhorn. In just a few days, she would be far away from here. This might be the last time she had time to do this with Rhyhorn, just sit here and pat it. She didn't care that it was dark outside or that she was starting to freeze. Rhyhorn had fallen asleep under her gentle touch, but she didn't let up. She remembered that when she had been a small girl, she had been a little scared of Rhyhorn. It had been so big compared to her back then and had felt so intimidating to her. Now, she wondered how it would be to not wake up every morning and greet it through the window.

Just as she was contemplating to get back inside, she heard hurried footsteps from inside and a second later, the front door flew open and her mother's silhouette appeared from inside the hall.

"Serena! Come quick! You won't believe what's being showed at the television!" she said hurriedly.

Seeing that her mother was serious, Serena quickly bent forward to give Rhyhorn a good night kiss on the horn before she got up and hurried over to the door, curious to see what her mother was talking about.

"It's that incident with the Garchomp you mentioned. A trainer have approached Garchomp on top of Prism Tower!" her mother explained as they sat down in the living room where the TV-screen was flashing.

Serena thought that maybe it was Garchomp's trainer that had come to try and calm it down. Just like Shauna said, the trainer had of course not ordered his Pokemon to go berserk in the city. Just as she sat down, the camera zoomed in on the trainer who had climbed to the top of Prism Tower. Serena looked at the trainer on the screen and froze. It couldn't be! Could it?

"Is that...?" Serena whispered as she felt her heart beat faster in her chest.

Her mother looked questioning at her daughter for a moment, but Serena didn't say anything else. Frowning at her daughter's strange behavior, Grace leaned forward to study the boy that had gotten Serena so shaken up. He seemed slightly familiar...

_"Are you Serena's mom?"_

The question echoed through her head as the picture of a young, raven haired boy flashed through her mind.

_"You are? Good! Serena have been asking for you over at the camp! She have hurt her leg."_

The boy in her mind flashed her a worried glance and tried to drag her along towards the forest of Pallet Town. Now, as the camera zoomed in on the trainer who climbed Prism Tower's face again, Grace finally recognized him and gasped. That was Ash! It had to be! She looked over towards Serena, who was just staring at the screen in shock. No wonder. Even though she hadn't thought much about it back then, Grace had come to realize how much Ash had meant to Serena. The period after they had moved away from Pallet Town had been a nightmare. It had pained her to see how much her daughter missed her best friend. It had taken almost 3 years before Serena had recovered, but Grace had noticed that she still wore the handkerchief Ash had given her wherever she went, even to this day. It was not normal for someone her age to go around with a handkerchief strapped around her wrist, but Grace hadn't had the heart to take it from her.

Serena didn't know what to think. It couldn't really be _her _Ash, could it? But that untidy raven-black hair, those brown eyes and those weird markings on his cheeks (what were those anyway?)... it couldn't be anyone else! It had to be him! Ash was here in Kalos! As she thought about it, Serena felt her heart jump in her chest. She and Ash were closer to each other than they had been for 8 years! The thought made her all giddy inside.

_"I have just been told that Garchomp's trainer has arrived at the scene! Let's hope he can calm down the situation!" _the reporter said to the watchers.

**-X-X-X-**

"Sycamore!"

Hearing the shout from behind, Brock, Professor Sycamore, Clemont and Officer Jenny who had just joined them in watching Ash try to calm Garchomp, turned around to see a boy of about 16 years run towards them. He had raven-black hair with a bang that covered his right eye, but the left eye had a very special ice blue color. He was dressed in a black shirt with its collar up and over that he had an open dark blue jacket. His sleeves was rolled up to reveal a bracelet of some sort on his left wrist, that held a slightly glowing stone.

"Oh Dusk! You're finally here!" Professor Sycamore exclaimed, relieved that Garchomp's trainer had finally made it here.

Dusk came to a stop in front of them, panting slightly but didn't seem to be overly drained from his long rush. Brock figured this had to be Garchomp's trainer, judging by the expression of relief that shone on Professor Sycamore's face. Clemont's eyes widened when he heard the name of the new arrival, but before he could open his mouth to greet him, Dusk cut him off.

"Where's Garchomp?" he asked as he looked around, as if they might be hiding his rampaging partner from him.

"He is up in the tower. Ash said he probably climbed the tower in order to get away from people as to not cause more damage than he had already done." Professor Sycamore told him gravely.

Dusk gave a slight "Hmm..." and looked up towards the tower. Good thinking, he thought. At least that meant that Garchomp wasn't completely out of his mind yet. He still had enough conciousness to be able to think logically. Now that he wasn't in danger of hurting people, all they needed to do was to get him to calm down somehow.

"I need to get up there... Darkrai! Use Pyschic!" he said with a steady voice.

Slowly out of the boy's own shadow, the Pitch-Black Pokemon emerged, startling all the surrounding people. Even Professor Sycamore, who had been aware that Dusk was in possession of the Legendary Pokemon, jumped when the Dark, Humanoid shape rose from the ground. As soon as it was completely out of the shadows, Darkrai's blue eye began to glow as Dusk was enveloped in a light blue aura, before he began floating into the sky through Darkrai's Psychic attack.

"Not you too!" Sycamore shouted after him but Dusk didn't even turn around to acknowledge that he had heard.

By Garchomp, Ash had been trying to get the collar off by pulling at it when he managed to get close to Garchomp, but it had backfired as the device had began sending new spasms of pain through the Land Shark Pokemon, causing him to cry out in pain and throw Ash off. Luckily, he didn't fall off the tower, but it was close. The collar seemed to have increased the pain it caused Garchomp as the dragon pokemon suddenly took on a scaresly familiar stance that Ash recognized from another Garchomp he knew. As the energy built up in Garchomp's belly, Ash felt his blood run cold.

"That's Draco Meteor!" he gasped as Pikachu growled and sent a blot of lightning towards Garchomp.

Too bad for them, before the Thunderbolt hit its intended target, Garchomp fired his attack, but unlike how Ash's Gible and Cynthia's Garchomp did it, it shot the sphere in a straight line towards them. Half way, it got hit by the Thunderbolt and split into the molten shots that Ash had come to know as Draco Meteor and all the shots shot straight towards him and Pikachu.

"Go Mawile! Block that move!" a shout came from behind them, as a pokeball flew into sight and opened to reveal the Deciever Pokemon.

As soon as Mawile had materialized, the Draco Meteor hit it head on. All of the shots of focused Dragon-type energy came together to hit it at that exact spot. Ash cried out in shock and anger that someone would just throw there pokemon into the line of fire like that. It was disgraceful! Turning around, he spotted a boy standing a few feet behind him. Behind the boy, an all too familiar silhouette was hovering, but at the moment, Ash only held his attention to the boy.

"Why did you do that? Sacrificing your own Pokemon like that!" he shouted angrily at the newcomer. Whoever this was, Ash had a feeling he wouldn't get along too well with him. Beside him, Pikachu was calling his own name repeatedly, showing that he agreed with his trainer on this one.

"Mawile's a Fairy-type Pokemon, Ash! Dragon-type moves have zero effect on him!" the boy answered. He didn't sound angry at being yelled at. Truth to be told, his voice didn't betray many emotions at all.

A determined shout of "Maw!" came from Garchomp's direction and Ash turned back to find that Mawile, indeed, had not recieved as much as a scratch from the Draco Meteor. He blinked in surprise and Pikachu mirrored his actions. Mawile didn't look back at him, as it was staring at Garchomp with intense eyes. Garchomp seemed to recognize this Mawile, as it gave a hesistant "Garr..." which was answered by several shouts from Mawile.

As his Mawile's presence seemed to have calmed down Garchomp slightly, though he still gave off a pained growl every time that collar began to sparkle, Dusk stepped forward to examine the situation. He was pretty sure that collar around Garchomp's neck was the scource of his partner's agony and the reason this whole mess started so that was undoubtly what they needed to destroy. But in order to do so, they would need to hit that little device that was attached to the front of Garchomp's neck, as the rest of the collar didn't seem to be more than some kind of laser or energy leash. Darkrai's could probably take it out, but his Dark Pulse and Ice Beam attacks ran too much of a risk to hurt Garchomp. He would rather not send Mawile in too close to Garchomp as he knew that Garchomp's Flamethrower would fry Mawile in a second if it hit. Other than these two, he currently had Phantump and Bergmite in his belt, but both those were pretty weak compared to the rest of his pokemon and to top it off, they were also weak against Flamethrower and Bergmite was additionally weak against Garhomp's Stone Edge. Oh, and Ash had his Pikachu as well. So the only one who was not at a basic disadvantage against Garchomp was Darkrai since an electric-type such as Pikachu would be useless against a Ground-type such as Garchomp... wait, that was it!

"Darkrai! Hit Garchomp with your Thunderbolt!" Dusk called.

Reacting to his trainer's command without question, Darkrai unleashed a great amount of electricity that sailed through the air and hit Garchomp straight in the chest. Ash snapped himself out of the shock of seeing a pokemon come out unhurt from a direct hit of the most powerful Dragon-type move in the world and once again turned towards the to him still unknown boy, whom he assumed was Garchomp's trainer.

"What are you doing? We don't want to hurt Garchomp more than he have already been!" he exclaimed angrily and grabbed Dusk by the collar.

"Ash, Garchomp is a Dragon and _Ground _type pokemon! He won't even feel a sting from Thunderbolt! But with some luck, that device around his neck will! Because of the size of the device, the electricty it can stand without overloading is very limited and too much energy will result in it self-destructing!"

Ash blinked. Yeah that's right! Garchomp was part Ground type! Why hadn't the thought about that before?! Without bothering to consider the techological stuff that the boy had told him, Ash let go of his collar and turned back to the task at hand. Pikachu had already jumped into the air, ready to take action the moment Ash gave his signal.

"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"

The electric rodent was covered in a field of electricity that charged up to maximum strenght before he unleashed it towards Garchomp.

"Piiikaaaachuuuuuuu!"

A moment later, Pikachu's Thunderbolt joined with Darkrai's and the tower exploded in a wave of electricity. Ash had to cover his eyes from the shockwave that the explosion caused. He felt the wind from the explosion tear at his jacket. Dusk wasn't fairing much better. He raised his right arm to cover his face. Seeing that Mawile had trouble fighting against the currents as well, he pulled out the Steel and Fairy type's pokeball and returned him with som difficulty. When the smoke and dust cleared, all three pokemon still out was panting heavily. Darkrai was still new to using the electric type move and so using it at such a large scale had drained him. Pikachu didn't feel as drained from using that move alone, but he had an entire afternoon of Garchomp hunting behind him so his fatigue had caught up with him. Garchomp was also panting, but not from releasing high-powered moves or from pain this time. He was panting with relief. As Ash and Dusk looked over at the Land Shark Pokemon, the collar that had cause so much trouble was finally gone!

"Yes! We did it!" Ash shouted in victory.

Dusk didn't shout, but he instead quickly walked over to his pokemon. Garchomp had fallen to his knees in exhaustion as the afternoon's events caught up with him and he began to feel the strain of using so many powerful moves in so quick succession.

"How are you feeling Garchomp?" he asked, worried for his partner.

"Gar... Gar..." was all Garchomp said, but Dusk didn't need anymore than that to understand. Garchomp needed to rest. With that thought in mind, he pulled out Garchomp's Pokeball and returned the Land Shark Pokemon. He had carried Garchomp's pokeball with him through Kalos out of pure habit. Because of that, he had always had 1 spot less to use in his belt, but he didn't really mind as few ever managed to take down his Darkrai, whom in Garchomp's abscence had taken up the role of "father" or "leader" amongst his pokemon. Phantump in particular looked up to Darkrai like a father, as the young Ghost-type found him inspiring.

As Ash looked over towards Garchomp's trainer, he didn't know what to feel. The boy had two times since they met, barely 5 minutes ago, managed to perform actions that had thoroughly pissed Ash off, but had both proven to be well thought through and not what Ash had first thought them to be. Perhaps he shouldn't be so quick to judge people? Seeing how Dusk interacted with Garchomp, worrying about the Land Shark Pokemon's well being and then returning it when he found that it was completely exhausted, he didn't look very different from Ash. As he thought about it, he looked over towards Pikachu, who was standing by the edge of the Tower, where he had landed after his jump. When Ash looked over at him and opened his arms with a side smile on his face, Pikachu's face was lit up and he bent back on his back legs to jump into the open arms. However, just when he pushed away, the ground he was standing that had been damaged by the enormous release of energy when Pikachu and Darkrai used Thunderbolt finally gave in and got loose.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried out in panic as he failed to grab onto the edge of the tower plateau and began falling down towards the concrete.

Ash's eyes widened in shock and fear as he saw his friend disappear over the edge. Without thinking, he took one big jump and dived over the edge after the yellow rodent.

"No! Pikachuuu!" he shouted as he reached out towards his partner as the two of them fell, faster and faster, down towards a sure to be painful death by the concrete street below.

* * *

**A/N: **_And there we go! Remember I said not to expect long chapters when I wrote the first chapter? Well, scratch that because this is the longest chapter I have ever written to any story! Now, don't forget to review to tell me what you think. I reply to reviews through PM so if you got any questions, don't be shy to ask! See ya next time guys!_


	5. To Vaniville!

**A/N: **_Hello everybody! This is Mr Oakzzz who welcomes you back to another chapter of Serene Phoenix. Now, as an answer to the poll I had up from the posting of the last chapter, Brock won out in the end so even though there might still be guys out there who doesn't want him in here, I'm afraid you will have to just bear with him. Oh, and I got a new poll up in my profile, asking what pokemon you want SERENA to catch during the journey. It contains all the lowest stages of Pokemon in the Central and Coastal Pokedex. I tried to add the mountain Pokedex as well, but it wouldn't let me put up more than 100 options to choose from lol._

_Now, my buddy Keeper Of Worlds made a guess for who was Dusk's sister is... and he guessed wrong, but it will be revealed in this chapter. Bonnie will also be making an appearence in this chapter. She had the most votes aside from Brock on who should follow Ash around so I might actually include her. As long as I don't have to include her jumpsuit-wearing brother I'm good. Sorry if you like him, I actually do too, I just think he looks ridiculus in that jumpsuit. Ehm, and I think someone mentioned something about Dusk's Garchomp kicking Charizard's butt without even trying. Please note that was not the case. Garchomp didn't want to fight, but then again so didn't Charizard. And Garchomp knows Stone Edge, which hits for a x4 weakness on Charizard so he had every possible disadvantage. _

_And I have gotten multiple people saying that I am advancing the story too slow... Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I think it's advancing at a good pace and though I do listen to my readers. you guys are still a minority (I think...) so for now I won't make it go faster. It might step up the pace now though, since Ash and Serena will meet by the end of this chapter! :p_

_Now, I don't think I got anything else to say for now. I noticed that I didn't put up the Pokemon list at the end of last chapter so I'll just put it up in this one. Check bottom when you get there. But before that, enjoy the chapter!_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own this stuff. Never have, Never will.

* * *

**Chapter Five: **To Vaniville!

Serena sighed as she rolled over in bed for what had to be the 100th time that night. So much had happened in that one day, it felt unreal that only a single day had passed since she called Professor Sycamore and asked if she could recieve a Pokemon to start her journey. First she had went over to Aquacorde Town, only to come running back about an hour later. Then, she had broken up an argument between Shauna and Sean, only to drag the latter away from a disagreement between Shauna and her mom. After that, she had turned on the TV and heard about the chaos in Lumiose City, which had caused her to doubt her descision to become a Pokemon Trainer until Shauna had shaken her out of it and told her that her mother had said that she might be allowed to go on a journey.

And as if that wasn't enough, she had been glued in front of the TV that same evening to get the update on the Garchomp Incident, only to be met by the picture of her best friend, the friend she thought she had lost forever, on the screen. That had been a shock and just when she had thought she could relax again, Ash just had to go and jump off the top of the tower like some kind of suicidal man...

**_-X-Flashback-X-_**

_"ASH!" Serena screamed in shock as she flew up from her seat in horror as she saw her best friend jump off Prism Tower to try and get his Pikachu. _

_Behind her, her mother had also rosen from her seat in shock. It felt like everything was played in slow motion as Serena saw Ash fall... and fall... grab his Pikachu, then fall... She felt her heart beat all the way up in her throat and almost thought she was about to throw up from the beating. This couldn't be how it ended for him... for **them**! It just couldn't! She tried to scream again, but her throat was too constricted to even make a sound. The emotional distress and lack of oxygen from her constricting throat forced tears out from behind her eyelocks and she couldn't help falling to her knees as she Saw Ash close in on the concrete. Why wasn't anyone doing something? There were tons of people around the tower, why didn't anyone do anything?! Why didn't anyone try to save him?!_

_She felt her built up emotions bubble in her chest and make her feel like she was about to explode. Just as she was about to punch the TV-Screen in frustration, Ash's fall began to slow down as he was enveloped in a light blue aura. Slowly, he started loosing the speed at which he was falling and eventually landed on the ground harmlessly. Ash seemed to be as shocked at this as everyone else was. Serena blinked in confusion. What had just happened?_

_"It appears someone used a Psychic type move to catch the boy before he could hit the ground." the reporter confirmed. _

_For a moment, Serena just sat there, tears still rolling down her cheeks until it finally hit her that Ash really was safe. Someone really had come to his rescue! As the camera man turned the camera back towards the tower, she saw Garchomp's trainer lower himself towards the ground, enveloped in the same blue aura as Ash had been caught by. By his side, that weird, black Pokemon was hovering with its eye glowing in a similar glow to the one that enveloped his trainer._

_"Thank Arceus!" Serena breathed as her throat eased up enough for her to take a deep breath._

**_-X-End of Flashback-X-_**

It had felt so scary to see Ash throw himself off the tower like that. What had he been thinking? What would had been one of the happiest moments in her life, seeing her best friend again, had turned into a nightmare when that friend had did something she would only assosciate with suicide normally. Just thinking about what would have happened if that other trainer had not been able to stop his descent made Serena's chest constrict painfully. Ash had always been very friendly and caring towards everyone, people and pokemon alike, but to actually do something so reckless...

Serena shuddered. She should be happy that he was alright. She should feel thrilled that they were so close to each other for the first time in 7 years. But somehow, that incident where Ash had thrown himself off Prism Tower had made her feel a little scared of their meeting. It had made her think about it more deeply... would he be different from the boy she used to know? Now that she looked back, she realized that she had changed a lot since when she lived in Kanto. In fact, she had changed the same moment she set foot here in Vaniville Town. Had Ash changed the same way? Or had he become a complete stranger? And what about his journey? Shouldn't he have changed immensely during that? After all, Shauna was right. Visiting new places, meeting lots of new people... It was sure to make one recieve new perspectives on things!

Turning over once more, Serena finally gave up on trying to sleep and sat up in her bed. Silently, as to not wake up her mother, Serena got out of bed and walked over to her window, which she opened. As she felt the cool night breeze soothe her skin and cool off her body heat after having been confined under her blankets for hours without being able to sleep, Serena drew in a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. There was no point in speculating about all this. She would find out when she met him. But did she really want to meet him?

Serena shook her head, trying to get that thought out of her head. Stupid question! Of course she wanted to meet him again! But at the same time... what if he was like a complete stranger to her now and it ruined her memories of him? Or even worse, what if he didn't remember her? Leaning against the window frame, Serena groaned. This was going to be a long night.

**-X-X-X-**

At the second floor of the Sycamore Pokemon lab, a boy with raven black hair was also lying awake in his bed. After the day's events, there was no wonder he had trouble sleeping, but it still bugged him a little. At the foot of his bed, Pikachu was snoring loudly and in the bed to his left, Brock was doing the same. They had returned to the Sycamore Pokemon Lab late in the night after they had managed to shake off all the reporters that had wanted them to share a word about the Garchomp Incident. When they had finally gotten back to the lab, everyone had been too tired to do anything and had just decided they would go to sleep and leave the clearing up to tomorrow. Ash too had felt exhausted back then, but for some reason he couldn't seem to fall alseep.

Feeling his throat crave some water, Ash sighed and rose slowly from his bed, careful not to wake up Pikachu. He sneaked over to the door and opened it carefully before sneaking out and closing it again. Without making a sound, Ash made his way down to the kitchen to get a glas of water. While the lab was shut down at night, the electricity was still on in order to keep the lab running and so, there was a few weak lights lighting up the halls. It made the old mansion look kind of spooky, but Ash just shrugged it off as he reached the kitchen and swiftly poured himself a glas of water, which he quickly down and began to refill the glas.

And then he heard it. A thump. He froze as he heard it and slowly turned around to look over his shoulder. It had sounded like when something organic hit wood. And he had been sure it had been inside the building. Or perhaps he had just imagined it because he had felt spooked by the dim light in the corridors... NO! There it was again! It was definetely a thump of some kind. Frowning, Ash began soundlessly making his way in the direction he heard it come from. It was coming from... the Professor's In-lab Arena? And why was the raylights turned on inside the arena? Was there someone there?

Frowning, Ash went over to the door and peeked inside. Yes, there was someone there! In the middle of the small indoor arena that Professor Sycamore used to test out his pokemon to make sure they were all healthy before he gave them to new trainers, a tall dark shape was hovering. It was Darkrai. Ash stared at the legendary Pitch-Black Pokemon for a moment, but Darkrai didn't move a muscle. Then, out of nowhere, a small shadow dashed up from the ground, aiming towards Darkrai's head. However, the moment its eyes caught sight of the movement out of the shadow, Darkrai had lifted his arm and blocked the attempt to hit him, sending the small figure back to the ground.

"Phan!" the small figure exclaimed, but Darkrai just shock his head.

"I think that's enough for tonight Phantump." came a voice from somewhere to Ash's left.

Flinching slightly when he heard the unnexpected voice, Ash turned to see Dusk was sitting at the lowest row in the stands. At his side, his Garchomp was lying, curled up like a dog fast asleep. The young trainer stood up from his place and headed out to his pokemon on the field. Ash watched in fascination as the little pokemon that had been fighting Darkrai was revealed. It looked like a small black ghost of some kind that was wearing a stump as a helmet. Despite the late hour, Ash felt his excitement build as he saw the to him unknown pokemon.

Hoping to shed some light on what this pokemon was, Ash pulled out the new Kalos Pokedex that Professor Sycamore had given him.

"_Phantump, the Stump Pokemon. Phantump prefer to live in abandonned forests. Old myths claims that Phantump is normal stumps that have become possessed by ancient tree spirits."_

'_Phantump'_, Ash though in surprise. Must be another Kalos exclusive Pokemon. Like Alexa's Helioptile and Gogoat.

"Having fun with your new toy?"

Startled by the unexpected quesiton, Ash looked up from his Pokedex and saw that Dusk had walked over to him with Darkrai and Phantump hovering behind him. Even Garchomp had woken up and had made his way over to stand with his trainer. Looking at Dusk, Ash felt unsure of himself. Though he didn't know how strong Phantump was, the other two pokemon that was currently flanking the other boy made a strong impression. He had seen first hand what Garchomp could do and Darkrai, as a legendary, had to be powerful. He had only met one Darkrai in his entire life and that one had been strong enough to go up against Dialga and Palkia, the two pokemon said to have created the Sinnoh Region and the reknown rulers over Time and Space. If this Darkrai was even half as strong as that one, then Dusk would be one tough nut to crack.

"Well, I just got excited by seeing a completely new pokemon. I didn't mean to interupt your training." Ash answered sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

Before Dusk could answer, Phantump decided to answer in place of his trainer and did a casual wave with his small arm, as if to say that it was no problem. Darkrai nodded in assent and Garchomp gave a low growl, which Ash percieved as a yawn. The Land Shark Pokemon was undoubtly tired from the afternoon's incident.

"It's no problem. We were just finishing up here anyway. Phantump is still a very young Pokemon and can't keep going for long yet." Dusk answered.

As if to prove his point, Phantump reached his hand up and wiped some invisible sweat from the forehead of his stump helmet, while it was making an imitation of panting heavily from strain. Ash had to bite his jaws tight together to keep from laughing at the little Pokemon's antics, but he knew that his lips were drawn out into a ridiculus-looking smile. Behind Dusk, Darkrai seemed to sigh at his young protege and shook his head. Dusk just chuckled and returned the little Ghost-type to his pokeball, before he did the same with Garchomp and Darkrai.

"I think we should get to bed. I usually stay up later to help Darkrai train, since he prefers to train while it's dark, but after this afternoon I think we all could use some rest, don't you think?" Dusk said as he walked up to Ash, who turned around and the two began slowly making their way back to the bedrooms.

As they walked, Ash glanced at Dusk out of the corner of his eye. According to Brock and Clemont, Dusk had won 3 tournaments in a row. First in Sinnoh, where he went on to challenge and beat the Elite Four before losing to the Champion, then in Unova, where he declined the offer of challenging the Elite Four and last but not least in Hoenn, where he had also declined the Elite Four challenge, in favour of being hired by the Devon Corporation as a scientist. That in itself spoke volumes, as the Devon Corp was the leading technological company in Hoenn and also one of the most advanced companies when it came to study of Pokemon genetics. Ash himself had visited the Devon Corp when he was in Hoenn and he had been thouroughly impressed with their technology. For them to have hired a 13 year old kid, he sure must have been something special...

"Hey Dusk? Why did you stop competing in tournaments? From what I have heard, you were quite adept at Pokemon Battling so why did you stop?" Ash asked, curious as to why someone would give up competing in tournaments when they had never ever placed lower than 1rst place. It just didn't make sense to him. He would be estatic if he had Dusk's record, so why had Dusk given up battling in terms of scientific study?

The other boy looked up from the floor he had been staring at and turned to look at Ash with his ice blue eyes. Ash could have sworn those eyes looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen them before. He was pretty sure he had never met Dusk before so it had to be someone else who had similar eyes. And Dusk had mentioned that his sister knew Ash somehow...

"Well, it just didn't give me the same satisfication as it used to. Ultimately, there is only one person I want to defeat and I could not do that by travelling to another region. When Mr Stone asked me to work for him, I saw it as a unique opportunity to do something I have always loved. I have been fascinated by the genetics of Pokemon and pretty much everything when it comes to science since I was a toddler and the Devon Corp is pretty much the best of the best when it comes to both those categories." Dusk answered.

Ignoring the stuff about genetics and science, since they didn't really interest him, Ash zoomed in on the part about why Dusk had stopped competing in tournaments. "There is just one person I want to defeat"... Now why did that sound familiar?

"Man, you're sounding like this guy I used to compete with in the Unova region. His name was Trip and all he ever spoke about was how basic everything was and how he was going to defeat his childhood hero Alder and become the new champion." Ash said as he put his hands behind his head.

For some reason, Dusk snorted at this. When Ash gave him a questioning look, Dusk's face twisted into a grin.

"So that was why he was so angry when he was defeated by Caitlin? Because he didn't get to fight his childhood hero."

When Ash frowned at this, Dusk went on to explain how he had heard that Trip had went on to challenge the Elite Four of Unova after he had won the Unova League, but had been beaten by the first one he had challenged, the Psychic-type specialist Caitlin. By now, they had reached the living room that was at the end of the corridor where they had their sleeping arangements. Ash thought back to his own battle with Trip in the Unova Conference. It had been a close match, but ultimately he had lost to Trip's Serperior when Oshawott had been the only one left to fight. Looking back, he felt stupid for only using his Unova Pokemon in that conference. Why had he even brought Oshawott with him to that match when he knew that the only Pokemon he would have an advantage against would be Trip's Chandelure?

While Ash was contemplating his past mistakes, Dusk had opted to sit down in the sofa in the living room, rather than go to bed. He seemed to be deep in thought. When Ash noticed that he had sat down, he took a glance at his bedroom door before he decided to sit down in one of the armchairs. He still didn't feel too sleepy yet anyway.

"I don't believe I thanked you properly for helping Garchomp this afternoon?" Dusk asked as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Nah, it was nothing. Besides, you and Darkrai saved my life when you caught me from that fall so we are even." Ash said with a grin on his face.

Dusk allowed himself a small smile as he was reminded of the other boy's crazy attempt to save his Pikachu when it had fallen off Prism Tower.

"That was really stupid of you by the way. I know my sister said you were reckless, but that was more attempt at suicide than recklessness." Dusk said.

Inititially, Ash opened his mouth to retort, but then he closed it again. There it was again! That bloody sister of his and he had no idea who she was! It sounded like she must know him from somewhere, but he could not for all in the world imagine who it could be!

"Who is your sister? I have no idea who she is, yet you keep talking about her as if I'm supposed to know her!" Ash asked, hoping to shed some light on the identity of this mysterious sister of Dusk's.

Dusk raised an eyebrow at the other trainer's question.

"Really Ash? You have no idea?" he chuckled when he saw Ash nod dumbly. "Alright then, I'll give you a hint. You and your friends lived with her at our Vacation House in Unova during the Junior World Cup."

Ash frowned. The Junior World cup... that had been the tournament that he and his friends had participated shortly before the Unova Conference. If memory served him right, that had been when Dawn had visited him in Unova, along with...

"Cynthia?!" he almost shouted in shock and stared at Dusk with wide eyes.

The other boy grinned at Ash's expression. It was priceless! Ash however stared at Dusk as if he had seen a ghost. Cynthia had a brother? Wait, of course! That was it! That was where he had seen those ice blue eyes before! They were the same! Looking at Dusk's ice blue, almost gray eyes now, he couldn't believe he ahd failed to see it before now. And they had the same starter Pokemon too! If he hadn't heard it wrong, Brock had said that Dusk was from Celestic Town in Sinnoh... hadn't Cynthia said more than once that she had grown up in Celestic Town?

"I see you finally figured it out." Dusk stated as he stood up and stretched his arms into the air. He was starting to grow tired. "I'll see you tomorrow. I need to get some sleep before dawn."

And with that, Dusk walked over to his bedroom door and went inside. Left behind was a gobsmacked Ash.

**-X-X-X-**

When the morning sun rose over the hills, Serena found that she had actually managed to fall asleep after all. She didn't know how long it had taken, but apparently she had been very tired because she had slept until 12 o'clock. To be honest, she was still a little drowsy, but if she went to sleep in the middle of the day, she knew she would have trouble sleeping again in the evening. She was initially surprised that her mother hadn't sent Fletchling at her, but then again she had probably looked pretty shocked yesterday so perhaps her mother wanted to give her some space?

After taking her time for once to get up, brushing her hair and giving a second thought about what to wear, half an hour had passed when Serena walked into the kitchen. Her mother was sitting by the television, watching the news. When Serena walked in, she looked up.

"Good morning sleepyhead." she said and turned back to the screen." They have cleaned up after the Garchomp Incident. Three people was hurt badly and about 18 got minor bruises, but no casualties."

Hearing that everything was clearing up, Serena let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding when her mother had mentioned the Garchomp incident. Knowing that everything was going to be alright, Serena felt a lot lighter at heart as she made her way over to the fridge to try and find something to eat for brunch.

"I left a plate of Pasta Bolognese in the fridge. I didn't know when you were going to wake up." her mother called to her as Serena began digging through the fridge.

After a few minutes, Serena sat down in one of the armchairs with a plate of Pasta Bolognese fresh from the microwave.

"Professor Sycamore called while you were asleep. He said he hadn't been able to send his representant with your stuff yet because of the Garchomp Incident, but he would get to it straight away. Said he had someone he would be able to send as soon as he woke up." her mother informed her.

Serena just nodded her head. While she felt a little disappointed it would probably take a longer time for her to set off on her journey to try and catch up to Ash, she couldn't really blame Professor Sycamore for having his hands full with a rampaging dragon. And still, she didn't know how long Ash would stay in Lumiose. He might still be there when she got there. It really wasn't that far off so she could probably make it to Lumiose in a day or two if she didn't stop too long in Santalune City. So if it took the representat took 2 days to get here and she took 2 days to get to Lumiose, Ash would have had to stay in Lumiose for 4 days if she was gonna have a chance of catching him. Lumiose had a Pokemon Gym so if Ash was still going for his dream of becoming a Pokemon Master, then it wasn't illogical that he would be stuck there for a few days.

"It's fine. That just means I got one more day to spend here before I get to go." Serena said, trying to not let it bother her too much.

She felt her mother watch her as she ate her food, but didn't let it bother her. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on the television screen, which had stopped showing News and was now giving the latest about the top Pokemon Battlers in Kalos. Apparently, the Kalos League Conference was due to start in a month and so the channel was doing a check out of all the possible participants. Serena wasn't really that interested in it, but at least it gave her something to think of.

_"...and now we will take a look at the Pokemon Trainer World Ranks that have been updated since the last tournaments in Unova and Sinnoh. Following his victory in the Unova Conference, Pokemon Trainer Trip have entered the Top 100 on 97th place. After having taken up League battling again and beaten 4 Gym Leaders in our own Kalos Region, Pokemon Trainer Dusk have moved up a few spaces to 20th place. Also, last years winner of the Lily of the Valley Conference, Ash Ketchum, have dropped a few spots after his loss in the quarter finals of the Unova Conference and is currently back on 82nd place.  
Moving up towards the top, Sinnoh Frontier Brain Palmer have climbed to 6th place after his victory over Kalos Champion Diantha, who in turn is dropped back down to 9th place. The Top 5 remains unchanged from last year and is as follows:_

_1. Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, 2260 BP  
2. Kanto and Johto Champion Lance, 1890 BP  
3. Unova Gym Leader Drayden, 1830 BP  
4. Kanto Frontier Brain Brandon, 1780 BP  
5. Hoenn Champion and Coordinator Wallace, 1610 BP_

_If you want the complete list, then please visit our website, which you can see down in the corner of the screen."_

Serena checked the screen bottom corner and found the adress. She wasn't too interested in the World Rankings, but it had picked her interest slightly to hear that Ash was on the Top 100. That would mean that he set out on his journey a few years ago at least. It had been 5 years since he should have set out so that was the longest he could have been on the road. '_I wonder how many regions he have travelled so far?' _Serena thought. The reporter said that he had won the Lily of the Valley Conference last year so he must have travelled at least 2 regions, since the Kanto region's tournament was called the Indigo Conference.

Deciding to check the website later for any kind of record for him, Serena stood up and went over to the sink with her now empty plate.

"What do you plan on doing today?" her mother asked.

Serena thought for a moment. She hadn't really planned anything. She could probably go over to Shauna's place, but for some reason she didn't really feel like she was up to spend the day with her best female friend. Perhaps she could invite Shauna over because she really didn't want to go out today.

"I really don't know. I guess I'll just stay at home and do something. Might call Shauna over. Why?"

"Well, I was just curious how you would spend your last day at home." her mother said.

Hearing that, Serena frowned. She hadn't really thought about it that way. In a day or two, she would not wake up at home. Perhaps...

"You know what? Why don't we just spend some time doing something just you and me? I think Shauna can wait until later?" Serena said as she turned towards her mother. It had been a very long time since the two of them did anything together other than training Rhyhorn Racing. If memory served, the last time had been about 2 years ago when they had went to a movie premiere in Lumiose City. It had been a very popular movie when it was released in Unova and her mother, ever a fan of PokéStar Studios, had somehow talked Serena into coming with her.

"That would be wonderful." Grace answered with a beaming smile.

Serena found that it made her feel good to see her mother smile like that at her. After they had moved to Kalos, Serena had felt a little distant towards her mother. Thinking back, she guessed it was because she blamed her mother for their departure from Kanto and her separation from Ash. She had been a child back then, but thinking back she couldn't really remember ever forgiving her completely. Somewhere deep down, something had always kept her from opening up to her mother the same way again after they moved to Kalos. But she actually felt really good about spending the day with her mother. It felt like now that she was about to start a new life, she needed to clear up any cracks in her old. Sometimes, it felt good to forgive.

**-X-X-X-**

"You're Cynthia's brother?!"

After Ash had woken up around 12 o'clock, Professor Sycamore had asked him if he was willing to run an errand for him. Feeling that he technically didn't have anything important to do yet, as he hadn't registered for the Kalos League yet, Ash had said that he would gladly run the errand. When he had entered the lab, along with Brock, to recieve the parcel he was supposed to deliver, he had found Dusk sitting by one of the tables, tapping away at one of the computers and he immediately remembered their conversation from the night before. Apparently, Brock hadn't known that Cynthia was Dusk's older sister.

"It's not appropriate to shout in a laboratory. It might disturb some very fragile experiment and that can end really badly." Dusk said as he closed his laptop and stood up. "Luckily, we don't have any fragile experiments going on here at the moment."

Ash facefaulted. Why even mention it then?! Never mind, they had more pressing matters.

"Dusk, I want to challenge you at a to a Pokemon Battle! If you're as good as everyone says, then I want to beat you!" he said as he took a step forward and raised his fist into the air.

Professor Sycamore just looked on in amusement. Brock's face when he learned that Dusk was Cynthia's brother... it was just hilarious. And a battle between Dusk and Ash would probably be interesting. Ash was good and probably better than his ranking that had been showed on the Morning News told off, but was he as good as Dusk? Dusk himself seemed to think it through as he looked Ash over for a moment.

"To answer the first question, yes Cynthia is my big sister. To answer the second question, I was under the impression you were going to Vaniville Town?" Dusk said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yes I am but a battle won't take long! Come on!" Ash said, getting pumped at the thought of beating someone who everyone seemed to think was really strong. Well, Dusk probably was really strong, considering what his Garchomp had done yesterday and the fact that he had a Darkrai, but Ash was still sure he could beat him!

Dusk seemed to think it over. Meanwhile, Sophie had come over with the bag that held the Pokeballs Ash was supposed to deliver to Vaniville Town, along with a map of the town to show which house he was supposed to deliver it to. Brock shook himself out of his shock that Dusk was Cynthia's brother and accepted the items from Sophie, earning himself an approving nod from the scientist.

"You have travelled through Sinnoh, Unova and Hoenn as well, right?" Dusk asked. When Ash nodded with confusion written all over his face, he continued. "Then how about this? I will wait for you here when you get back and we will have a three on three battle. One pokemon from each of the regions we have both completed. How does that sound?"

A regional battle? That sounded interesting. It was a good way to make sure the ground was even between them.

"Sounds great! I'll be sure to get back here fast!" Ash answered confidently.

"Don't rush it. There is a Gym in Santalune City, which is on the way so if you wanna make it to the next Kalos League Conference, then you should challenge it while you are there." Dusk said.

Having had his challenge accepted, Ash turned back to the task at hand. Turning to Professor Sycamore, he and Brock was given their task. They were to deliver the starter pokemon to a new trainer in a small town called Vaniville. That made Ash feel good. They would be doing something nice! He still remembered the time he had picked his own starter... oh well, he hadn't gotten to pick. It had been Pikachu or nothing but he still felt happy just thinking about that day. Now, he would be bringing that day to another new trainer! Awesome! Professor Sycamore said they would be leaving in one hour so Ash and Brock went back to their room to get their stuff. When they came back down, the Gym Leader Clemont had showed up, along with a little girl.

"I'm sorry I took so long to get here Professor. My little sister insisted to be brought along and she wouldn't take no for an answer." Clemont tried to apologize to Professor Sycamore.

The Professor just chuckled.

"No worries. You know Bonnie is always welcome here."

The little girl, whom Ash guessed was Bonnie, gave her brother a withering glare.

"See? I told you he wouldn't mind!" Bonnie piped up.

Clemont didn't say anything. He just went on to ask if there was anything he could do to help clear up yesterday's mess. Meanwhile, Bonnie had noticed Pikachu standing by Ash's feet. She squealed and ran over to hug the little electric rodent. Oh oh...

"I don't think that's a good idea." Ash hurried to say as he picked Pikachu up from the ground.

Bonnie came to a stop in front of the trio and pouted.

"Aww! But I just wanted to hug him!" she complained.

Clemont facefaulted over where he was standing and he was just about to reprimand his little sister for her lack of manners, but before he could make his way over, Brock chuckled and leaned down so he could meet her at eye level.

"I understand that Pikachu is cute and all, but you have to consider Pikachu as well. How would you react if a complete stranger just ran up to you and wanted to hug you?" he asked with a kind voice.

Bonnie looked like she wanted to say that she wouldn't mind, but after a moment of thinking she realized that she probably would have been freaked out as well. Her face softened as she looked up at Pikachu, who had taken his place at Ash's shoulder, out of the little girl's reach.

"Oh... I guess I would have been a little freaked out. I'm sorry Pikachu." Bonnie apologized with shame written all over her face.

Ash just smiled. As if to show that it was no big deal, Pikachu jumped down and gave Bonnie a quick hug before running back up Ash's leg and settling back at his trainer's shoulder. Bonnie looked surprised for a moment, then her cheeks turned slightly pink as she smiled up at Pikachu and waved at him.

"I'm really sorry about my sister!" Clemont said as he came up to them.

"Don't worry. It's no big deal, she was just excited to meet Pikachu." Ash waved it off.

Having cleared that up, Ash, Brock and Pikachu bid their farewells and left the lab. As they made their way out of Lumiose City, Ash felt like he was about to do something important. Whoever this new trainer was, this would be a very special day for him or her and they would probably remember it for the rest of their life. And he would be the experienced trainer now, he would need to be on his best! And on top of that, this would be the first time he was outside a city in Kalos! This would be really exciting!

**-X-X-X-**

After having walked the entire afternoon, Ash, Brock and Pikachu had finally made it to Aquacorde Town. The sun had begun setting but it hadn't yet completely disappeared. They would probably be in Vaniville Town by 18.30 if they kept it up. Aside from Brock having to drag Ash away from the Santalune Gym and Croagunk doing the same for Brock when they passed by the Pokemon Center and met a Nurse Joy, the three friends had had a pretty uneventful day. Brock had however been considering what Pokemon Ash was planning on using in his battle with Dusk. When they had stopped at the Pokemon Center for a quick break, Brock had used one of the computers to check the Official International League Website for any kind of information on Dusk. Apparently, he had only ever lost 8 battles in his entire carieer, one of which was against his sister, Cynthia, during their battle over the title of Sinnoh League Champion. Except that battle, he had also lost to the Opelucid City Gym Leader, Drayden, once but he had beaten him in a rematch. He had also lost a match against Pyramid King Brandon, the Frontier Brain of the Kanto Battle Pyramid, though it had been a inofficial match. All in all, he had an official record of 64 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. A more than impressive record.

Ash had to admit, that was probably a lot better than his own record. He probably had around 20 official losses, considering he had that bad habit of always losing to the first Gym in a new region. But he definetely had more wins than losses. And to be honest, he probably had more wins than Dusk total so they should be pretty even in his mind. He knew Darkrai and Garchomp would be really tough to battle, if he used any of them, but he was confident he could win. Brock had suggested they double checked his options for the match when they arrived at the new trainer's house. And with that in mind, they left Aquacorde Town.

"Hey Brock?" Ash asked as they walked down Route 1.

"Hm? What's up?"

Ash put his hands behind his head in thought. Brock looked over at him and frowned. Ash had been a lot more thoughtful than he was used to since they met up again and he still was not used to this more thoughtful Ash.

"I was just thinking... every time I travel to a new region, I always get a new friend who travels around the region with me. I mean, in Johto and Kanto it was you and Misty. I hadn't met any of you, but we became friends for life. Then in Hoenn, you came back and we met May and Max and the same happened in Sinnoh when we met Dawn. In Unova, I met these guys named Cilan and Iris and we travelled around the region together. Do you think this beginner trainer will want to come with us and travel around Kalos with us? I mean, it's always nice to meet new friends and I have kind of gotten accustomed to travelling with new people." Ash asked.

Brock frowned. He hadn't really thought about it, but now that Ash mentioned it, they did always get someone new who chose to travel with them. It was actually a quite ejnoyable habit they had made.

"I guess we can always ask. When you are a new trainer, you can always learn a lot from travelling with a more experienced trainer. I mean, Dawn and May sure grew fast as trainers while they were travelling with us and you grew pretty fast yourself when you were travelling with me and Misty." he answered, grinning at the last part.

"Hey!" Ash growled angrily while Pikachu was snickering at his shoulder.

Brock just chuckled as he pulled out the map to check where they were supposed to go once they entered the town. They could see the gates by now. Professor Sycamore had warned them that the gates would close at 20.00 as a precaution to keep wild pokemon from roaming the town at night, but since they had barely made any stops along the way they had plenty of time to spare.

Ash kept sulking all the way into Vaniville Town, causing Brock to once again question whether he really had matured or not. In some situations, he could act all grown up and mature while in other, he just fell straight back to where he used to be, which meant childish, stubborn and sometimes reckless. When they entered the town however, he perked up somewhat and began looking around curiously. It was a little bigger than Pallet Town back home, but it still had the same calm nature hanging over it, being so close to the forest. Not many people were outside right now since it was dinner time, but it still had a welcoming feeling to it.

"I think it's this way we're supposed to go." Brock said and led them off to the left.

Ash just shrugged and followed. He knew he himself was terrible at reading maps so he pretty much figured it would be best to just leave it to Brock or they would be wandering around all night. As they walked along a long hedge that cut the street off from a serie of townhouses, Ash noticed one slightly bigger house by the end of the street. Being placed in a corner, it took full advantage of the extra space provided. And that was the house where Brock led them.

"It should be this one right here." he said as they stopped outside the gate.

Despite the impressive building, the front garden really wasn't anything special, only containing a big oak tree and a large kennel-like hut where a Rhyhorn was taking a nap. After having doublechecked the map, Brock nodded to Ash in confirmation and they boy from Pallet Town entered the garden. As he did, the Rhyhorn woke up and, finding two strangers in the garden, it immediately jumped to its feet and ran up to place itself between Ash and the door. The Spike Pokemon stomped its feet in the ground and growled lowly, daring them to try and get past it.

"Easy there Rhyhorn. We are just here to deliver a package to your owner." Ash said as he took a step forward and held up his hands.

Hearing his voice, the Rhyhorn seemed to hesitate and after a moment of staring at Ash, its eyes suddenly widened. Ash frowned at the Rhyhorn's strange behaviour, but seeing as it didn't mean him any harm anymore, he walked up to it and bent down to give it a pat on the horn.

"That's it boy. Nice and calm." he said.

"Rhy, Rhyhorn Rhy!"

When the Rhyhorn spoke, Pikachu's ears twitched and the electric rodent leant forward to ask something of the Spike Pokemon. Ash watched in fascination while his partner talked with this Rhyhorn when Pikachu turned back to him and began gesturing with his hands.

"Pika pika! Pi, Pikachu! Pika!"

Ash frowned slightly. He usually understood Pikachu pretty good, but right now he either was too tired to think clearly, too hungry or Pikachu simply didn't express himself in a very clear way. But the yellow rodent was pointing at him and then at the Rhyhorn so Ash made a guess.

"Are you saying that I have met this Rhyhorn before?"

When Pikachu nodded, Ash raised an eyebrow and bent forward to study the Rhyhorn closer, as if he could recognize a Rhyhorn in the amount of Rhyhorns in the world just by looking at it. He couldn't really remember any specific trainer that had a Rhyhorn, at least not one that was worth remembering. He had faced a Rhydon or two and he had even met Palmer's Rhyperior, but he couldn't remember this specific Rhyhorn or even when during his travels he could possibly have run into it.

"Brock? Can you remember anyone special who have had a Rhyhorn that we might have met during our travels?" Ash asked as he stood up again.

Brock put his hand on his chin as he tried to think of any important trainer Ash had either faced or met who could have had a Rhyhorn. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't really remember the last time he had even seen a Rhyhorn. Oh, except the one who lived at the Pewter City Gym of course, but that one couldn't possibly be this one so that didn't count.

"No, not that I can think off."

Ash had went up the stairs to the door while Brock had been thinking and had already lifted his hand to knock on the door. Pikachu was still sitting with Rhyhorn, apparently trying to understand from where Rhyhorn knew Ash.

"Weird." was all Ash said as he knocked on the door.

Where could he have met this Rhyhorn? Better yet, how could he have met a Rhyhorn who lived in Kalos? He had never been to Kalos before so had he met someone during his travels who could have been from Kalos? Well, he would probably find out because he could hear someone coming to open the door. The door swung open and a middle aged woman appeared in the doorway.

"Good evening. We were sent here to deliver a starter Pokemon by Professor Sycamore." Ash said as a greeting.

The brown haired woman stared at him in shock. After a few seconds, Ash was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Had he said something wrong? Well, it wouldn't be the first time but he was pretty sure he couldn't have messed up that badly with that greeting. Oh, well of course he could have said his name! However, as he opened his mouth to introduce himself, the woman beat him to it.

"Ash?" she breathed in shock.

Ash frowned. Now this was getting scary. First the Rhyhorn, then this random brown haired...woman... wait a sec... He narrowed his eyes to try and make out more of the woman's features through the dusk. As she took a step back to let them into the house, Ash's eyes widened as he recognized her. Suddenly, it all made sense! The Rhyhorn... and that brown hair and those kind eyes...

"Grace?" he gasped in shock.

Grace nodded in confirmation. Ash gulped. Now it all seemed so clear to him. He couldn't remember who on his journey he had met with a specific Rhyhorn because he had met the Rhyhorn _before_ his journey. But if that Rhyhorn was _that _Rhyhorn and Grace was also here... then that would mean...

"Mom? Who was that by the door?" came a soft, angelic voice from the doorway that led off to the right further down the entrance hall.

Ash felt his heartbeat increase at an alarming rate as a young teenage girl stuck her head in through the doorway. And froze. For a long moment, the two of them just stared at each other.

Over the years, her hair had grown slightly longer but it still had that special gleam to it. Her face wasn't as round anymore as it had been when they were children, but it still looked softer than a silk pillow and her saphire-blue eyes were still as deep and glowing as Ash remembered them. She had grown quite a lot too. When they had been children, he could swear that he had been a lot taller than her but now they looked to be about equal height. As the light from the entrance hall cast its glow over her head, it made her hair look like it was flowing around her head, as if they were underwater. She had grown and changed a lot over the years yet she looked so similar. There was no doubt in Ash's mind who this must be.

"Serena?" he breathed out in shock.

Serena swallowed and put her hand over her heart. Of course she had seen him on the television just the other day, but it didn't make it any less unreal to see him like this again, standing in front of her. He had grown quite a lot since they separated. His black hair was confined by a baseball cap, but from what she could see it was still as messy as it had always been. His eyes still held the caring and compassionate look that she had always found herself staring into when they were children and he didn't look so skinny as he had back then. Serena took a deep, calming breath and for the first time in 7 years, the two best friend locked eyes.

"Ash?"

* * *

**A/N:** _Alrighty! There we go with one more chapter! So, to all amourshippers out there, Ash and Serena is finally standing in the same room! Now what's gonna happen? Ok, I know I'm terrible for putting this of all things on a cleffahanger and I am willing to face my punishment for it, as long as it does not contain 1)Homework. 2)Brock's Croagunk. 3)Spinach (I hate that gunk of doom XD). _

_Now, I hope not too many of you are upset that Dusk is Cynthia's sister, but it partly explains why he was so fast to gain success when he started out. Since Cynthia had done it before him, he already knew most of what to do and also he had been kind of taught by the best. I mean, even as the Champion, I bet Cynthia visited home once in a while. _

_And speaking of Cynthia, I would be really interested to know what you think of this Pokemon Trainer World Ranking I introduced in this chapter. It was actually a reader who suggested it and I thought it sounded cool. Now, I want to point out that the rankings are determined by Official League Matches, such as Gym Battles, Conference Battles, Elite Four Challenges, Frontier Battles and Official Challenges. Also, depending on the rank of the person you defeat it gives extra points, that's why Dusk is so much higher than Ash. You can also lose points by breaking rules or lose in Official Battles, meaning that the ranking is in constant change. Tell me what you think about it! _

_And here we go with my dear Pokemon List:_

**_Ash Ketchum_**

**_Pikachu: _**_Thunderbolt, Iron Tail, Quick Attack, Electro Ball_

**_Charizard:_**_ Flamethrower, Wing Attack, Slash, Dragon Tail_

**_Dusk_**

**_Garchomp: _**_Flamethrower_**_,_**_ Draco Meteor, Stone Edge, Dragon Rush_

**_Darkrai: _**_Dark Pulse, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Psychic_

**_Phantump:_**_ Phantom Force_

**_Bergmite_**

**_Mawile_**

**_Brock_**

**_Croagunk: _**_Poison Jab, Brick Break_

_So there we go. While we are at it, I have been thinking about icreasing the move cap? How does that sound? Someone pointed out that they wanted Charizard to re-learn Seismic Toss and I would not have any trouble with that. Please tell me what you think about that! Also, don't forget to check out my profile to vote in the new poll! I am personally cheering for Goomy! GO GO GOOMY! =) Oh, and while you are at my profile, you can check out my Character Bios I put up if you wanna read up on the characters in my story. They are underneath the Harry Potter Characters._

_Now, I hope you liked the chapter and that you are willing to leave a review to let me know what you think! Just no complete flames! This is Mr Oakzzz, signing out for now! =)_


	6. Ash and Serena: Past, Present and Future

**A/N: **_Hello guys! And welcome back to another chapter of Serene Phoenix! Well, this is it guys! The chapter you have all been waiting for! Ash and Serena, reunited after years of separation! So I won't keep you from it for too long! Just wanna tell you the poll is still up and that I made a new story picture. Please tell me what you think about it! Well, here we go!_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Pokemon.

* * *

**Chapter Six: **Ash and Serena: Past, Present and Future

Dusk absentmindedly drummed his fingers at the edge of the phone while he waited for it to get picked up on the other side. After having spent the day apologizing for his Garchomp's behavior, the silence of the Sycamore Pokemon Laboratory felt welcoming. Sycamore himself had decided to go to bed very early. While he was used to getting attention, he had been shocked at the amount of reporters that had been blocking the way out of the lab during the afternoon. After 3 League Victories and a good time of being the poster boy for the Devon Corp, Dusk was more than used to large groups of reporters and knew just how to handle it. He too would like to get an early nap, but he had something he needed to take care of first. Just then, the person at the other end finally picked up the phone, and a young, blonde woman with hair that went down past her waist appeared at the phone screen.

"Dusk? Well, this is a surprise call. I didn't expect to hear from you so soon."

Dusk just rolled his eyes. Yup, Cynthia still treated him like a little kid. No matter how old he got, she would always just look at him as her little brother. In a way, that felt comforting. In another way, it could really get on his nerves.

"It's good to see you too, sis. I need to transfer some pokemon."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow at her younger brother. He had transfered some pokemon just a few days ago before he was to challenge Ramos, the Courmarine City Gym Leader, and had said that he would stick to those until at least after he left Lumiose City. And as flexiable as he could be in battle, Dusk was not one to go back on his word when he set something in stone.

"You've already beaten the Lumiose Gym?" she asked, as that would be the only explanation she could come up with, as to why Dusk would want to switch Pokemon at this point.

Dusk however shook his head as he reached down to his belt and pulled out Bergmite and Mawile's pokeballs. He looked at them for a moment, considering if he should send Bergmite or Phantump, but ultimately decided that it didn't really matter, as he would probably take them both back soon anyway.

"No, but I won't need to worry about that. Garchomp's back on the team so it will be easy." he said as he placed the two pokeballs in the teleporter device.

Cynthia's eyes (well, the one that was visible) narrowed.

"You shouldn't be too confident, brother. Overconfidence is the first step towards arrogance." she said as she began tapping away at the keyboard to prepare for the transfer.

In truth, Cynthia didn't really think of Dusk as arrogant. Sure, he could be a bit too confident at times, such as when he was travelling Unova and faced off against Drayden the first time, but he rarely underestimated his opponent and never looked down on others, just because he happened to be stronger than them. They had been at this a hundreds of times already and nowadays, she mainly just pointed it out as to remind him not to get too full of himself. And his answer was the same as usual.

"It's not overconfidence if one can back up their claims." he said as he checked over the status of the transfer. Both his pokemon was in good health and the connection had been established without problem.

After recieving a nod from his sister, he pressed the button and watched as the machine began flashing and his pokeballs disappeared in a flash of light. Now, which ones should he pick for his battle with Ash? He had thought about it beforehand and had a pretty good idea what he would like to use. For one thing, Ash was not allowed to use Pikachu, since he had recieved Pikachu in Kanto, so Dusk did not want to make it unfair and use his own starter. And he also didn't want to use Darkrai, as he felt a legendary would not be a fair battle. And to top that off, he was not sure if he was allowed to use Darkrai, even though he had been the one to make up the rules. While Darkrai had been caught while he was in Hoenn, it had been _after _his actual journey through the region. Not wanting to take any risks, he had decided to leave both Darkrai and Garchomp out of it.

"They have both arrived safely. Why are you switching pokemon by the way, if I may ask?" Cynthia had to admit she felt a bit curious as to why her brother had decided to rotate his team for seemingly no reason. But if it was something she knew about Dusk, it was that he rarely did anything without a reason. He had always been that way, even when they were children.

"I have accepted a challenge from Ash Ketchum. We are going to do a three on three match with one pokemon each from Sinnoh, Unova and Hoenn since we have both completed those regions." Dusk said.

Hearing about his reason for switching, Cynthia's eyes widened for a moment, before her lips were drawn out into a smile. So Ash was in Kalos? That was good. She had been worried he would be a bit broken after his crush at the Unova Conference. But seeing as he was in Kalos, that had to mean that he was still charging forward, as recklessly as ever. Well, him challenging her brother was proof that he was still at least a bit reckless...

"I see. Sounds like a fun battle that I would really like to see. When will it be? And will it be an official match?" she asked curiously.

Even though they were both lower ranked than they used to be, both Ash and Dusk was ranked on the Top 100 list of the International Pokemon League's trainer rankings, meaning that they could technically make this an official challenge. If they did that, the winner of the match would have their Battle Points increased by the set amount of points gifted for beating the other person's rank. It wouldn't be very beneficial for Dusk, but for Ash a victory could potentially get him to climb a few spaces. It was really tight in points up around those places and there was only about 30 points difference between the spot holders of the 82nd place, which was Ash, and the 68th place, as opposed to the 360 points that stood between Dusk's current spot at 20 and his old ranking as number 14.

Dusk raised his eyebrow at his sister, but decided not to comment on it. After all she had told him about Ash Ketchum and his '_potential' _he should have guessed she would have wanted to watch the trainer she had such high hopes for face off against her brother. The fact that Kalos was on the other side of the globe from Sinnoh would not matter in the slightest. The benefits of being a champion and the Number 1 Pokemon Battler in the world...

"Probably in a few days. I'm going to win my 5th badge first and Ash will need to make it back to Lumiose first. I would say around 4-5 days at the least, since Ash will want to challenge the Santalune Gym before he comes back. And no, it will not be an official match."

This seemed to please his sister, because she gave him her characteristic "eye-smile".

"Great! That means I will be able to get there in time after I'm done with Palmer's challenge." she said in a sweet voice, though Dusk could detect a small hint of annoyance when she mentioned that Palmer had challenged her... again.

"Why are you even accepting his challenges? He have tried to get the best of you since you became Champion and he hasn't won even one of your battles since then." Dusk asked.

He had never understood why Palmer kept challenging his sister to official league battles. When he had asked, Palmer had said that it was all about testing who was truly the strongest trainer in Sinnoh. But even more confusing was why Cynthia kept accepting his challenges. During the 7 years that Cynthia had been the Sinnoh League Champion, Palmer had challenged her 21 times and lost all of them. He had been close once, but ultimately his Rhyperior had proven to be too slow to meassure up to Cynthia's Garchomp. Last year, Palmer had even taken to challenging Dusk to a battle, though it had been unofficial. Lucky for him, because they hadn't been more than half way through the battle when Dusk realized that Palmer's Rhyperior still had trouble keeping up with really fast opponents and the battle ended with another Garchomp knock out of Palmer's signature pokemon.

"Sometimes, I wonder that too but to be honest he is the _only _one who has challenged me officially over the last years." Cynthia said with a shrugg, before trying to return to the matter at hand. They had gotten way off track. "But never mind that now. Just expect me to arrive in Lumiose City in about 4 days. Which Pokemon do you want?"

**-X-X-X-**

The tension in the entrance hall was so thick you could practically touch it. Grace didn't know if she should try to step away and let Serena and Ash have their own reunion or if she should try and give her daughter a push in the back, since the honey-blonde girl had pretty much frozen in place. Brock seemed to be clueless as to what was going on, but he could tell by Ash's expression that this was not a good time to break the moment.

Ash didn't know what to think. He had to be dreaming. Serena was... well she had been gone but he wasn't in Pallet anymore. He had never thought that he might run into her on his journey, because he had always only ever thought about the time they had spent together in Pallet so when she left their hometown, it had felt like she had left the world. Well, he had wanted to believe they would meet again someday but he had never really thought it would actually happen. But now here she was, standing in front of him. Ash felt his chest going all jittery inside. Why was he so nervous?

Opposite to him, Serena had come out into the hall, but she was still holding her hand over her chest, staring at her childhood friend. Why was she feeling so giddy inside? She had known that he was in Kalos! She had even known exactly where he was (well, at least she had thought she had known) so why was she so shocked to see him? She swallowed hard and began walked towards him. The hall that she usually took in a few swift steps suddenly felt extremely long and tiring to walk. On her way there, she felt a lot of different emotions bubbling in her chest. The feeling of loneliness that had consumed her for the first year after moving, the sorrow she had felt the day she had jumped into the car and watched as her best friend disappeared behind her as the car moved out of Pallet Town, never to return. But at the same time as those and a lot of other negative emotions ran through her, she also felt the happiness she had felt when she had seen him on the television yesterday.

While Ash and Serena had been staring at each other, Brock had called Pikachu inside and closed the door, to avoid letting out all the warmth from within the house. The electric rodent was now staring up at his best friend, not used to seeing him in this kind of trance-like state. According to what the Rhyhorn had told him, Ash had known it and its owners since before he left Pallet Town. Though it probably didn't matter, Pikachu had to admit that it had picked his curiosity to hear that Serena, who he guessed was the younger of the two woman, had been Ash's best friend before she moved away. He had never met one of Ash's childhood friends before. Well, except Gary but those two had been out to practically kill each other since the day Pikachu had first met Ash so he didn't count.

Meanwhile, Serena had made her way up to them and stopped in front of Ash. Behind her, Grace caught Brock's eye and motioned for him to follow her into the house. It would be better for all of them if Ash and Serena could have their little reunion to themselves. Brock got her message and bent down to pick up Pikachu, before following her into the living room. Left behind were two very nervous childhood friends.

After a few moments of just staring into each other's eyes, Serena lifter her arms, as if to hug him. Ash saw the gesture and slowly began to lift his own arms to hug her back. Only to be hit above his head by one of Serena's fists. Confused, he let off a surprised yelp and brought both his hands up to the growing bump on his head.

"Ash! Ketchum!" Serena shouted. "You reckless little IDIOT! What were you THINKING jumping off Prism Tower like that! Do you KNOW how THAT made ME feel?!"

Saying Ash was confused would be an understatement. If he had ever imagined their reunion, it sure hadn't been like this. He felt himself shrink under his childhood friend's angry glare and stumbled back towards the door.

"I... I didn't know you were watching." he said lamely.

"Oh, and THAT makes it so much more acceptable, does it?" Serena growled with a sarcastic voice. "I thought I was going to break down! I was so worried, so scared! Then I felt so relieved when that trainer saved you and... AAAHH! I don't know if I am supposed to be happy or sad or angry or.."

She didn't continue and put her hands over her face. This was not what she had wanted to say to him during their reunion! She was angry with him for jumping off Prism Tower, yes, but she hadn't wanted to jump at him about it as soon as they met. But all her bottled up emotions just got thrown around inside of her and it made her want to explode!

Seeing that his friend had calmed herself down somewhat and had started shaking from all her tethering emotions, Ash slowly took a step forward. When Serena didn't react to that, he hesistantly reached out with his arms again and pulled her into a hug, like he used to when they were children and Serena had been angry or scared of something.

"I'm sorry I made you worry." he said as he felt her stiffen in his embrace.

Serena took a shallow breath when she felt Ash's embrace. How she had longed to feel his comforting embrace! For 7 years, every time she had felt sad, scared or angry, she had only just curled up in her room, hoping no one would disturb her and terribly missing being comforted by her best friend. Feeling her anger leave her, she just sighed and leaned into his shoulder.

"I've missed you so much." she whipsered as she hugged him back.

Mumbling something about that he had missed her too, Ash let go of her and gave her a smile. It was strange. Back when they were children, he had hugged her from time to time because he knew she liked being hugged, but he hadn't really thought much of it. Now however, he found that he was actually reluctant to let go of her. He had felt so content just holding her and feeling her heartbeat against his chest. Well, perhaps what being apart for 7 years did to you.

Serena found herself lost in Ash's eyes as she looked up into his face. Seeing him on the television had been one thing but to actually stand here with him, holding him and looking him in the eye... it felt completely different. That determined and caring face that she remembered from 7 years ago and just barely had been able to scratch through the tv-screen was now staring back at her, more caring and determined than ever before. And she had been right, he had grown more muscular than he used to be. Back in the day, he had always been kind of skinny. Not overly so, but he had been far from as well trained as some other kids, like Gary. But leaning into him, she could feel that he had become a lot more muscular than he used to be. Thinking about _her _Ash as a strong, young man caused something in Serena to stir. She felt her cheeks flushing in pink and her heart beat faster.

As Ash looked into Serena's clear, dark-blue eyes, he felt his cheeks heating up. What was this feeling? He swallowed nervously as he tried to come to terms with this strange occurance. It felt like something was spreading inside his chest. He felt all warm and sweaty and somehow he felt both nervous and calm. Was it because of Serena? But why would he feel so giddy inside because of her? Speaking of Serena, he couldn't ever remember her body feeling so soft against his...

Unfortunately for the two of them (or perhaps fortunately?), they had both been so engrossed in their own thoughts, feelings and each other that they had failed to hear the front door open behind Ash and close a second later.

"Oh, I thought you said you didn't want to get a boyfriend, Serena?"

Both of the two teenagers that had been staring at each other jumped when Shauna announced her prescence. Ash spun around to see a girl around his age standing in the doorway. She was a little bit shorter than him and her long, brown hair was tied up in two long pigtails, that were both flowing down her sides. He quickly let go of Serena as if she had burnt him, but immediately felt a sting of displeasure from letting go. Wait a sec... what had this new girl just said? She thought he was Serena's boyfriend?!

Meanwhile, Serena was blushing furiously behind Ash's back as she mentally berated herself for forgetting that Shauna was coming over. They had decided over the phone in the afternoon that they would have one last sleepover before they set off on their journeys. While Shauna's mother hadn't yet given her final descision, they felt pretty confident she would give her acceptance. And this way, Shauna could be present when Serena picked her pokemon. But of all the times to show up...

"I don't recognize you though. Hmm..." Shauna said as she tilted her head to the side as she studied Ash. The confused and embarrased boy just stared at her in shock, wondering who she was and what she was doing. His brain didn't quite seem to work the right way at the moment.

Serena had to bite her lip to keep herself from screaming at Shauna for ruining the moment and on top of that embarrass her completely in front of Ash. Thinking that she had to clear some things up with her friend, she went over to Shauna.

"Why don't you wait in the living room with the others, Ash? I will be right there. Me and Shauna will just go to the kitchen and get us something to drink." Serena said, trying to keep her voice even.

And with that, she grabbed Shauna by one of her pigtails and dragged her off towards the kitchen. The other girl yelped and began to struggle against Serena's grip but found that it just made it worse. Ash was staring wide eyed as Serena dragged off the struggling brunette.

"Oww! Ouch! That hurts! Serena... ouch! Let go!" Shauna protested as she was dragged through the doorway to the kitchen.

Left behind was a very confused Ash. This was even more confusing than spending time in Professor Oak's Pokemon Laboratory with Gary trying to explain the inner workings of a Pokeball to him, and that was saying something. What had happened in the last few minutes felt like it was all just imagination. Or perhaps it really was imagination? No, holding Serena had felt real... _very _real. But really... What in the name of Arceus had just happened?!

**-X-X-X-**

While Ash recovered from his confusion, Serena was dragging Shauna by the pigtail into the kitchen and made sure to close the door. Then, she rounded on her friend who had just managed to embarrass her beyond description in front of her childhood friend that she hadn't seen in 7 years and had thought she might never see again until just a few days ago. Glaring at the brunette, she let go of her pigtail. Shauna immediately spun around and glared at her.

"What was that for?!" she demanded angrily.

Serena gritted her teeth in frustration. Did she _really_ have trouble figuring out what she had done wrong?

"Well, what do you think?" she hissed. "You just embarrassed me in front of my best friend that I haven't seen for 7 years!"

Shauna had just opened her mouth to retort, but then she froze when her mind registered what Serena had just said. Best friend? Haven't seen for 7 years? Hadn't it been 7 years since Serena had moved to Kalos? Could that mean... that the boy out there had been...?

"That was Ack?!" she asked, wide eyed.

Serena took a moment to stare at her friend before she understood what Shauna had been trying to say, causing her to face fault and put her right hand over her face in embarrassment on her friend's part.

"His name is Ash." she sighed.

Having had her theory confirmed, Shauna ignored the correction.

"Whatever! But you're saying that it was really him? The boyfriend you left in Kanto?!" Shauna asked, estatic. Serena had told her so much about her old friend, but Shauna had never thought she would get to meet him.

Hearing Shauna once again call Ash her boyfriend, Serena felt her cheeks flush. However, it also reminded her that Shauna had actually called Ash Serena's boyfriend straight to his face. What would Ash be thinking about that? Would he think Serena had claimed that he was her boyfriend? How embarrassing wasn't that?!

"Now I want to make one thing clear with you Shauna. And you better listen because I will only say this once! ASH! IS! NOT! MY! BOYFRIEND!" Serena growled at Shauna.

The other girl got slightly taken aback by the hostility in Serena's voice. She had never heard her talk to anyone like that, not even her mother when said mom kept pushing her in Rhyhorn Racing Training. But was Serena seriously thinking she would believe there wasn't anything between them? Shauna had seen the way the two had held each other. And the way they had looked at each other and seemed to be lost in another world. They hadn't even noticed her when she arrived, opened the door and closed it after she entered. Was that supposed to be just a normal friendship?

"Jeez Serena, calm down!" she said. Then, she got a mischievous glint in her eyes. "If you don't want him, then I will just go get him myself."

It took Serena's mind about three seconds to process what Shauna had just said. Then as soon as she realized what Shauna was implying, her eyes widened and her mood went from furious to shocked to scared in a matter of moments.

"NO!" she exclaimed before she could stop herself. When she saw Shauna grinning at her maniacally, her hand shot up to cover her mouth.

However, there was no stopping it now. Shauna had gotten just the reaction she had wanted. Serena's temper had somehow vanished faster than a Ninjask could fly from a hungry Talonflame and Shauna as good as had confirmed that there was more to Ash's and Serena's friendship than the two wanted to admit.

"Oh? And why would that be a problem if you don't want him for yourself?" Shauna waved her eyebrows suggestively.

Biting her lip, Serena tried to come up with a reason for Shauna to stay away from Ash without admitting to what her friend was suggesting. But what if it was true? _Could _it be true? Could it be that she actually thought of Ash that way? No! She hadn't seen him for 7 years, how could she think that way about a boy she probably didn't know any longer?

Seeing that Serena was finally starting to face the fact that she had deeper feelings for Ash than mere friendship, Shauna decided to leave her friend to her thoughts and went over to the sink. She had a vague memory that Serena had said that the two of them would get something to drink for the others.

**-X-X-X-**

It took Ash almost 5 minutes before he could shake himself out of his stupor. That girl had been really weird. By the looks of it, she was a friend of Serena's. He still couldn't believe that she had thought that he and Serena was a couple. He wasn't like Brock. He wasn't out to get a girlfriend. Still, that meeting had been a bit weird, even before the unknown girl had arrived. Why had he felt so strange when he hugged Serena? Sure, he had missed her but should it really make such a big difference?

When he entered the living room, he found Brock sitting in an armchair with Pikachu in his lap and Grace sitting in the sofa. It looked like they had been talking when he entered, because Grace was leant forward with her elbows resting on her knees. When Ash came in and sat down, they both looked up.

"Where's Serena?" Grace asked with a raised eyebrow.

Brock just studied Ash. How come he had known Ash for 5 years and he had never heard anything about this Serena girl? Seeing the way they had looked at each other, it was obvious they had something special, so why hadn't Ash mentioned her?

"She said she and her weird friend would go get something to drink." Ash said as he looked up at his former neighbour.

'_Weird friend? Oh, he must mean Shauna...' _Grace thought, sweatdropping at the way Ash described the brunette. But to be honest, that was probably the best way of describing Shauna.

As soon as he had sat down, Pikachu jumped out of Brock's lap and made his way over to Ash. While the little electric rodent felt a little left out that Ash had never mentioned this girl to him, he didn't really feel it mattered. They had actually never talked about the time before they met so there hadn't been any time he would have had reason to bring it up.

As Pikachu cooed contently and settled down in his trainer's lap, Ash felt himself relax after an entire afternoon of walking. He was used to walking but they had kept an abnormaly high tempo so that they would arrive before dusk and not have to spend a night in Santalune.

"How come you never mentioned Serena during the years we travelled together? From what Grace is telling me, you two used to be inseparable?" Brock asked.

Ash just shrugged.

"Well, you never asked." Ash answered before he turned towards Grace. "I take it that the "new trainer" we are supposed to deliver the starter Pokemon to is Serena?"

Grace gave a nod of confirmation.

"Yeah. She decided two days ago she wanted to go on her journey."

This caused Ash to frown. Why had Serena waited so long to start her journey? Ash had started out... what was it, 5 years ago? Yeah, that should be it so why had Serena taken so long? Were the rules different here in Kalos from what they were in Kanto?

As if she had read her mind, Grace answered the unspoken question.

"She was really down when she turned 10 so she said she didn't want to go on a journey. I think, after all those endless plans you two made during all the afternoons you just sat around and talked, that she didn't see the point in it because it would not be the way she wanted it to be."

Hearing this caused Ash to feel a little bad. Had those plans really been that important to Serena? Yes, of course they had been important, but to actually turn down a journey just because he wouldn't come with her? It made Ash feel sad thinking that he had ruined Serena's journey just because he hadn't been there with her.

Just then, Serena entered the living room, carrying a tray with glasses and a jug juice. Behind her, the brown-haired girl was following. As soon as she had entered, Serena caught Ash's eye, but quickly looked away as she began blushing. In her mind, a picture of the scene in the entrance hall appeared, with Ash holding her in his arms and she was resting her head against his shoulder.

While Serena put unnescesarily much focus on dividng the juice between the 5 glasses on the tray, Shauna introduced herself to Ash and Brock and said hi to Grace. When she had determined that the drinks were equally divided, Serena began handing out the glasses, first to Shauna, then to Brock, then her mother and lastly, she gave one to Ash. When she did, she gathered her courage and looked up again. Ash was smiling at her and thanked her for the drink. Taking a deep breath, she said that it was nothing, as she took the last glass in her hand and sat down at the edge of the second armchair, which had become occupied by Shauna.

"Hey Serena? Why have you waited so long to start your journey?" Ash asked as soon as she had sat down.

Taken slightly aback by the question, Serena had to take a moment to think. What should she tell him? That she had felt too lonely without him to have the will to do anything? No, that didn't sound good, even if it was partly true. It made her out to be weak. She didn't want Ash to think she was weak.

"Well, I just hadn't settled in here yet and I felt I wanted to do that before I took off somewhere else." she answered. It wasn't a complete lie, it just left out the reason why she had felt so down and didn't regard this as her home yet.

However, it seemed that whatever pokemon devil was out there had sent Shauna to her house that evening to ruin it for her by forcefully telling the whole truth, because as soon as she said it, the brunette sat up straighter and looked at Serena with a surprised look.

"I thought you told me it was because you missed Ash too much?" she said, blinking.

Right then and there, Serena felt like she just wanted to sink through the earth and disapear. What had she done to deserve this?

"Shauna!" she exclaimed and emptied her glass of juice in the other girl's hair as means of retaliation.

Shauna squeked in surprise and immediately jumped out of the armchair. Serena also stood up. In the sofa, Grace had to stiffle her laugh at the two girls' antics. Ash blinked in surprise, but then just shook his head. So it really was true what Grace had said. He looked on as Serena scolded Shauna for letting her mouth slip, but he barely heard their little argument. All he could think about, was how different their world would be if Serena hadn't moved away. Perhaps then, they would never have split up. They would have done all their travels together. Serena wouldn't have waited 5 years to start her journey. Perhpaps, with Serena's support, he would have been more driven to actually use his head in his battles, rather than his instincts. She had always been the more calculating of them, she would have kept him in line. To be honest, she probably was the only person except his mom who had actually ever been able to keep him in line. So maybe then, he would have made it further in the Indigo League, perhaps he would have even managed to win the Silver Conference or the Hoenn Conference. And if they hadn't been separated, Serena wouldn't have fallen into depression. All this, all that he knew today, had been created by one tiny event in his past that could have made all this difference.

"I'm really sorry about that!" Serena's voice cut through Ash's thoughts, causing him to look up. It would seem that Shauna had left the room, probably to wash the juice out of her hair. Brock had taken to cleaning out the armchair. Grace was just looking at her daughter without saying anything. Serena was standing in the middle of the room, bowing constantly while she was apologizing for her behavior. "I'm so sorry you had to see that."

"But it's true, isn't it? What she said?" Ash asked quietly, though he already knew the answer.

This caused Serena to kind of shrink into herself. She looked down at her feet in shame.

"Yes... it's true." she whispered. Now that it was out in the blue, she might as well admit all of it. "After we moved here, I... I just broke down. I was weak. I just missed you so much and I couldn't see anything I did positively, because I just kept thinking that it wasn't worth anything if you wasn't here to see me doing it or see it along with me. I kept running out into the forest, wanting it all to be like it used to be back when we would always meet out in the forest back in Pallet Town. So when Professor Sycamore offered me the chance to go on a journey..." She swallowed harshly. By now, her voice was trembling and tears were running down her cheeks as she let out the emotions that had built up after she and Ash had been separated. "I said no, because it all felt so pointless. My journey was supposed to be with you. We had it all planned out and then it all fell apart when I moved. I just couldn't stand the thought of walking an unknown road in an unknown region all alone, without having you there with me, like we had planned. I just..."

She stopped and just shook her head. She was shaking all over, not able to keep going. Thinking back to those days was just too painful. She had really felt like everything was pointless. All she had wanted was to see her best friend, but the world had kept denying her that little desire. The times when she had thought she saw Ash out of the corner of her eye and had turned around only to be met with disappointment were too many to count. And every one of those times, a little part of her heart, her hope of ever seeing Ash again, had died.

Over in the sofa, Grace had covered her mouth with one of her hands. Tears were streaming down her face as she listened to all the pain her daughter had went through, just because she had decided to move so she could participate in the best Rhyhorn Racing League in the world. It pained her heart to listen to all that her daughter had went through because of her selfishness. And when all of this had played out, she hadn't done anything to help her daughter. She had been too caught up in her own carieer to even notice or stop to think twice. What had she done?

Brock had stopped cleaning the armchair as he listened to Serena's story. He wasn't crying, but he felt his chest constrict as his heart went out to the poor girl. He had felt hopeless when his parents both disappeared so he could relate a little to what she was describing. That feeling that everything was pointless... yeah, he knew that all too well.

Ash felt his eyes grow wet as he listened to all that Serena had went through, just because he had not been there for her. They had been best friends. She had been the one person outside of his family that he had felt he completely trusted at the time and then he hadn't been able to be there for her when she needed him the most. He swallowed hard as he stood up and made his way over to the sobbing Serena. She had hiden her face in her hands and kept shaking it, as if trying to clear her mind of the sad thoughts, but couldn't quite manage it.

When he reached her, Ash opened his arms and pulled Serena into another hug. This time, she didn't stiffen like she had in the entrance hall. She just leaned into his chest and cried her heart out, cried out all of the sadness and sorrow that she had built up over the endless nights she had locked herself in her room and longed for her best friend's comforting embrace. As he felt the honey-blonde girl place her soft cheek against his shoulder, Ash felt his own eyes tear up as the tears that had threatened to spill over for the last few minutes finally won out and began their descent down his cheeks.

Pikachu watched his trainer and best friend from the sofa with confusion. He had never seen Ash like this. It was like he was a completely different person. Human behavior had always confused him, but this definetely took the cake in his eyes. How could Ash change this much, just because of this Serena girl? The yellow rodent shook his head. There was no idea even trying to understand. Humans were weird, end of story.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Serena." Ash murmured into her ear.

Serena shifted slightly so she could speak, while she just tried to take in the feeling of being held by him again. She needed this. After 7 years of being denied the comfort of her best friend's embrace, she really needed this. No matter what Shauna said, she needed this from Ash because he was her best friend, not because she may or may not have a crush on him.

"It's not your fault. You were living on the other side of the globe." she whispered back.

Ash didn't know how he was supposed to answer that, so he just settled for rubbing Serena's back, the way he remembered she used to love when they were children. Even back then, Serena had always felt a little left out with her mother being so busy from her Rhyhorn Racing and when she had felt too lonely, she had always come to Ash for comfort. Feeling Ash rub her back like that again sent shivers down Serena's spine.

Seeing how well Ash still could comfort Serena, even after 7 years of separation, Grace felt like she had failed as a mother. It was a mother's duty to take care of their children, and she hadn't managed that very well. But at the same time, she felt good, knowing that Serena had found someone who could comfort her, someone who had covered up for her own mistakes... until they had moved. And that had also been her fault. Was there anything she had done right in Serena's raising? Well, there probably was but right now, it felt like she had made all the worst mistakes possible. She hadn't payed attention to Serena and when she had actually asked for Serena's opinion on something, such as them moving to Kalos, she hadn't even listened to what her daughter had said, always thinking she knew best because she had been the grown-up.

While Grace was contomplating all the mistakes she had made in Serena's upbringing, Ash was trying to come up with something he could say to put Serena at ease. Looking down at his childhood friend, he took a deep breath and felt an arouma of flowers that reminded him of Floaroma Town, the small town in Sinnoh that was famous for its endless fields of flowers. The scent seemed to be coming from Serena's hair. But regardless of where it came from, it calmed his thoughts and enabled him to think clearly. Suddenly knowing what to do, he pulled away and looked down at her with a smile plastered over his slightly tearstained face. Serena raised her head to look at him, wondering why he had broken the hug.

"But Serena, breaking down like that doesn't mean that you're weak. It just shows that you cared about our friendship." he said as he reached up and tried to dry the tears on her cheeks.

Serena looked at him, no longer crying but still a bit depressed. But at least she seemed to have calmed down a bit. Seeing that he had her attention, Ash kept talking in the hopes of getting her to leave the past behind.

"I'll admit that I am not the best at this emotional stuff, but I think it's about time you leave this behind." he said. When she looked like she wanted to say something, Ash hurried to continue. "It won't do to dwell on the past. So let it all out here and now so we can both move on, ok?"

Understanding what Ash wanted her to do, Serena drew a shivering breath. Was she ready for this? Would she be able to talk about all what she had wanted to share with him over the years they had lost? No... she couldn't. It was too much.

"Don't worry, I'll stay here and listen all night long if that's what you need." Ash said, as if he had read her thoughts.

Seeing that her daughter was drifting towards accepting Ash's offer, Grace dried her tears from her face and stood up. Brock looked up at her and she nodded towards the door. Giving a nodd back, Brock stood up and followed her out of the room, leavin the two best childhood friends alone. Pikachu looked first at the two that had left the room, then back at his trainer, then towards the door. He was just about to follow Brock out when the Pokemon Doctor stuck his head back in through the door and shook his head. Pikachu could stay. If Serena loved pokemon even half as much as Ash did, then the prescence of one would help keep her calm. And even if that wasn't the case, it would give Ash mental support while listening to Serena's story. Even for someone as positive as Ash, it would be hard to listen to their best friend telling stories about their own depression.

As soon as they had exited the room, Grace swallowed and turned toward her daughter's childhood friend's friend.

"Do you think I did the right choice, leaving them alone like that?"

"What makes you ask that?" Brock wondered. Why would she ask that of someone she had just met?

Grace just shook her head and sighed.

"Listening to Serena's point of view on those events... I realize that I haven't really given her the attention she deserves. She is a wonderful girl, but all I could think of back then was my own carieer as a Rhyhorn Racer. Looking back... I can only see what I did wrong." Grace whispered as she hung her head.

Not knowing what he was supposed to do in this situation, Brock settled for putting a hand comfortingly at Grace's shoulder. He was used to caring for children, but he had no idea how to comfort an adult. Grace however seemed to take his silence as a confirmation that he thought she had done the right thing by leaving Serena to Ash.

"Why didn't Serena ever tell me?" came a voice from behind them.

Both spun around to find Shauna standing there, looking like she had cried. Obviously, she had been by the door the whole time her friend had let our her feelings and listened.

"If she had, how would you have reacted?" Grace asked, having a pretty good idea of why Serena hadn't talked to Shauna about this.

Shauna had opened her mouth to answer, when she realized that she probably would have made fun it, had Serena tried to talk to her about it. She closed her mouth and looked down at her own feet. Grace smiled at her daughter's friend and walked over to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on. Let's go and settle you two into the guest rooms. We got a long night in front of us." she said.

The other two nodded, both eager to find something to do to keep their minds of their friends. With Grace leading the way, they made their way up onto the second floor, while Ash was helping his childhood friend to come to terms with her past. It would be far into the early morning before the two of them had fallen asleep. Serena told him everything she could remember from all the times she had curled up in her bed, crying and wishing to Arceus she would get to see him again, all the times she ahd run out into the woods, hoping to find him there, waiting in front of the trees the same way he used to and how much it had hurt to always be met by nothing. She told him about all the times she had thought she would give anything to be held in his comforting embrace, her frustration with her mother for trying to get her to become a Rhyhorn Racer and all the afternoons she had spent, sitting in her room, talking to a her own reflection in the mirror because she missed the times she had someone she could talk to about anything.

Ash listened intently to her story, offering comfort when she needed it and holding her in his embrace when she felt she needed it. In turn, Ash told her about his own childhood and how he had grown up after she had moved away. In a strange way, she felt comforted from hearing that things hadn't changed in Pallet, so that if she ever returned she would still recognize her hometown. He told her that Gary had kept being a stuck-up brat, that his mother had kept reminding him to change his underwear and that he had kept going back to their special spot by the river in the forest at times to remember her. He told her about his journey and meeting Pikachu, how the electric rodent had refused to listen to him at first and how he had gained his trust. Serena had almost hit him again when she had heard that he had stepped in front of a flock of ravaging Spearows to protect Pikachu, but instead opted to give Pikachu an appreciative pat on the head when she heard that the rodent had come to his rescue.

They kept exchanging stories about their separate childhoods well into the night. Over time, Serena felt the pain in her chest leave her as Ash listened and comforted her. It actually felt refreshing to talk about it and to cry her heart out from the pain she had locked away. When she had come to the day just a few days ago, when she decided to go on her journey when her mother had offered it, she felt more at peace than she had felt in many years, probably not since before she left Pallet Town. Seeing that Serena had gotten what she needed out of her system, Ash began bringing up some specifically happy memories they had shared before her move. As Serena sat there, leaning into her best friend's shoulder, she found that she felt oddly complete. Ash had grown up, like she had thought, but she found that she liked the way he had grown. No matter what, she knew she wanted to always have him in her life. For the first time ever, Serena admitted that maybe... no, she _knew _that Ash was the person she wanted to share the rest of her life with. For the first time, she admitted to herself that she loved Ash as more than a friend.

* * *

**A/N: **_Soo, I know I didn't cover a very long time frame in this chapter, but I just felt that I couldn't hurry this chapter with all the emotion packed into it. I hope you liked Ash's and Serena's meeting. Some of their reactions might look or sound a little strange, but well when you are emotionally unsecure like in situations like this, you do strange things. It have also been scientifically proved that when you are in love, the part of the brain that handles logical views on things shuts down. Don't ask me how it works, it's complicated as crap and I don't really understand it myself._

_Since no Pokemon was used in this chapter, I don't see any reason to put up the list I usually do at the end of a chapter. If you want to see the list, you can either check out my profile, where all the pokemons used by the main characters are shown, from Ash to Dusk, or you can go back to Chapter 5: To Vaniville! and check the list at the bottom. _

_Other than that, Christmas is approaching and I'm sure a lot of you guys got your hands full. Believe me, I do. By the way, Do you know if it's supposed to be said "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Christmas"? I was taught the first one in school, but in Harry Potter they use the second term. What is most appropriate?_

_Oh, and I have had this idea that I want to have a small section here at the end where I either give you a Pokemon Fact you might not know, a personal Top 10 List of something Pokemon Related or give a "Quote of the Day". What do you think? Would that be fun to read?_

_Anyway, as usual I hope you liked the chapter and that you give a review to tell me what you thought about the chapter. And as usual, no flames. This is Mr Oakzzz, signing out for now!_


	7. The End of an Old Life

**Song:**

"I don't want a lot for christmas  
There is just one thing I need.  
I just want a brand new chapter  
of Serene Phoenix I can read!

I won't ask for much this christmas  
I won't even wish for snow.  
I just want to keep on waiting  
and hope that Oakzzz won't let me down!

I just want it for my own  
More than you could ever know!  
Please don't make me wait on end...  
Now here you got your chapter, my friend!" ;)

**A/N: **_Alright, so I am not a genius at coming up with song text. I should probably stick to writing fanfiction. So that's what I'll do. I wanted to thank you all for your support and for liking my story and what better way to do that than posting a chapter on Christmas? =) _

_This chapter will also feature the first Top 10 list, that I will include at the end of the chapter. I have also opened a new poll where you can vote for what other Top 10 lists you would like to see and of course I would like to get suggestions from you guys on what to do a Top 10 about. Aside from that, this chapter will also introduce to you a feature that I will call "The Oakdex", which is essentially me personally giving a few words about a Pokedex Entry from the games. Believe me, there are a lot to talk about..._

_So... while there isn't any snow outside where I live, I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. I sure had a fun time writing it. This is my Christmas gift to you my dear readers. And let me wish you a very Merry Christmas. Or Happy Christmas. Or Bon Noel. Or God Jul. Anyway, from all of ... me? to all of you, a very merry christmas!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or the song. Pokemon belong to Game Freak and the original Song belong to Maria Carey.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: **The End of an Old Life

The sun was seeping in through the window in the living room. It cast its rays over the floor and engulfed the entire room in its warming glow. On the sofa, the young honey-blonde girl that had fallen asleep there the night before was starting to stir. As soon as she realized that she was alone in the room, Serena's eyes shot open and she sat up with a start. Where was Ash? Had it all been a dream? No, it had been real. It had felt so real. That feeling of comfort... that was something she would not have been able to feel, even in a dream. Ash was here, somewhere.

Just as she thought it, the door to the living room was opened and a boy with a large breakfast tray entered the room. The tray was stacked with a huge mountain of food that seemingly defied the laws of nature by staying upright. Serena giggled as Ash, whose face was hidden behind the mountain of food, kicked the door shut with his foot before trying to balance the tray as he made his way over to the tv-table.

"Oh? You're up?" he asked from behind the tray.

Serena smiled warmingly towards the tray. Yeah, it was definetely her Ash. When it came to food, he hadn't changed one bit.

"Yup, I just woke up. How long have you been up?" she asked as she straight and waited for Ash to put the tray down on the table.

"Not for long. Just woke up a few minutes ago and thought I should go get us something to eat." he said as he somehow managed to put the tray down without anything tipping or falling over.

Breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn't tipped it, Ash sat down in the sofa, next to Serena. The honey-blonde cast a glance at him and, thinking about the night before, couldn't help but blush slightly. They had spent hours on end talking about all that had been hard for Serena since she moved and Ash had sat there, listening intently all the time and offered his comfort. And strangely, she had felt better after talking about it all. They had just gotten re-acquinted and already was Ash showing what a wonderful boy he was.

"Wait, for _us_?" Serena asked when she realized Ash's use of the plural term.

Grinning widely, Ash grabbed a riceball and put it in Serena's hand.

"Yeah! We got 7 years of morning picnics to catch up on, don't we? You do remember the times we used to sneak out early in the morning to eat our breakfast together in the forest, don't you?" he said as he grabbed a plate of bacon and dug in.

Serena watched him eat with a smile tugging at her lips. Yes, she remembered those times all too well. They were some of the most precious memories she had from Pallet Town. She would be woken up by Ash tossing small pieces of gravel on her window, big enough to make a noise but small enough to not leave a visible mark. She would then sneak downstairs and unlock the front door, letting Ash in so they could snatch something out of the pantry, before they proceeded to sneak outside. Usually, they went to some place in the forest they had picked out the day before. After having done it a few times, they had learnt that it was a good idea to leave a note on their respective kitchen tables to tell their mothers where they had gone. The first time they had done it, Serena's mom had gotten furious with Ash for "luring her daughter into fishy activities" and sent Rhyhorn after him.

"Yes, I do remember those." Serena said with a fond smile at the memory. She opened her mouth and took a bite of the riceball. It tasted really good.

Ash however hadn't stopped to wait for her answer. He had already finished his plate with bacon and was now taking bites out of a large breadloaf that he had cut in half and filled with various spreads, similar to a baguette, even though the loaf was actually meant to be cut up into normal slices of bread. Serena couldn't help but giggle when he took one too big bite and choked on it for a second before swallowing it down with a large gulp of apple juice. Nope, his table manners definitely hadn't changed.

"G-gah! P-perhaps I should take it more slowly." Ash gasped as the air returned to his lungs after having been blocked by the piece of bread that had gotten stuck in his throat.

Serena gave a soft chuckle at his expense. One would think that after who knows how long, he would have learned not to try to chew more than he could swallow. Ash turned towards her with a slight glare plastered over his face.

"Oh, think that is funny, do you?" he asked with a hurt voice, though he couldn't help but grin a little.

"Yup!". Serena teased him as she took a bite of her own, normal-sized sandwich.

Ash gave her a look of mock hurt and amusement before digging back into his food, this time taking it a little slower. Serena took her time eating while Ash pretty much emptied the large tray of food. One would wonder where it all went, but Serena had given up trying to figure it out a long time ago. Instead, she took to watching him eat, once she had finished her own breakfast. She still couldn't believe that he was really here. Despite all that had happened yesterday, it felt like a dream to be sitting beside him again. It felt like a hole inside her chest had finally been filled. A hole that had been there for so long that she barely had noticed it was there until it got filled. Remembering her own thoughts from yesterday, she felt her cheeks flush a little. She had admitted to herself that she liked Ash as more than a friend, but did she really _love him? _Well, it did feel like she had heard being in love would feel, feeling all giddy inside and constantly wanting to be near him, but how would she know it was really love? She had never loved a boy before...

"What's up Serena? You look a little strange."

Hearing Ash's voice, Serena snapped out of her thoughts and realized to her embarrassment that she had frozen up, staring at him. She felt herself blushing like crazy as she turned away, trying to hide her face from view with her long hair.

"N-nothing. I-I was just thinking about something." she said, cursing herself for not being able to think up a good excuse.

Luckily for her, Ash didn't seem to think anything of it, as he just shrugged and leaned back in the sofa and patted himself on his belly. Serena took a deep breath and forced her blush to receed. This was not a good time to be thinking about her feelings for Ash. It would have to wait until later, when she was alone. For now, she would just enjoy being with him again.

"Hey Ash? I don't think I ever asked you what you are doing here in the Kalos region in the first place?" she asked, trying to stir up a conversation.

Ash looked at her for a moment, as if thinking she was crazy. Then, a grin spread across his face.

"I am going to challenge the Kalos League of course!" he said as he pumped his fist into the air.

Serena didn't know if she was supposed to feel stupid for asking. What else would he be doing in Kalos? Of course he wasn't here because he had somehow felt the need to go here and find her. Stuff like that only happened in movies... wait, where did that thought come from?! _'No! Don't go there Serena! Get a grip!' _she thought as she shook her head to try and clear it of the strange thoughts.

"That's great! I'm still not sure what I want to do yet. That's why I am going on a journey. To find what I want to do!" she said as she grinned nervously.

Ash smiled at her. It felt good to see her in better spirit. Yesterday had been really hard on him. Meeting Serena again had been great, aside from when she hit him in the head, but their reunion had been far from perfect. He couldn't believe that Serena had bottled up so many sad and painful feelings. It had made him feel so... well, sick would be a good word, to hear of all the times she had locked herself in her room and just cried because she didn't feel at home or because she missed him. And what had he been doing when all this happened? Tried to plan out the best way to ruin Gary's reputation because of his stuck up attitude... Yeah, some friend he was. But at least they were past that now, and if she needed him like that ever again, he would be there!

"I'm sure you'll find something during our journey!" he said with a grin. Then, his expression suddenly changed to one of slight nervousity. "You do want to journey with me and Brock, right?"

What if she didn't want to journey with him? He had felt sure that she would want to come with him and Brock, but now he felt like perhaps he should have asked her first. Taking things for granted would come back to bite him in the butt, sooner or later. How would he feel is Serena said no? Would he be able to accept that? He had just gotten her back! He couldn't lose her again! Wait, what was this possessiveness he was feeling? Where did that come from?

While Ash was struggling with his own emotions, Serena had frozen in place where she sat. She could come with him? Ash wanted her to join him on his journey? Up until now, the thought had never even struck her that now that they were together again, they could go journey together like they had dreamed of when they were children! She wouldn't be walking a lonely road in a foreign region after all! The thought that she could really travel with _her_ Ash caused her heart to pump faster in her chest. This was too wonderful to be true!

"Yes... Yes, yes! Of course I want to travel with you!" she said as she grabbed him and pulled him close into a hug.

Ash had barely let out the breath he had been holding when he heard her first "yes" before he got pulled forward into Serena's hug. He would have hugged her back if he had been able to, but it was kind of hard when his face was pressed into Serena's...

"Ehm, Serena?" he gasped out as he felt something soft being pressed against his face.

"Hm?" Serena asked as she looked down on Ash, whose face rested tightly against her buddling chest. "Kyah!"

She shrieked in shock and embarrasment and immediately let go of Ash, who fell back against the sofa while Serena flew out of her seat and quickly put a few steps between them, all the while blushing furiously. What had she just done? She had been so happy to be invited to come along with him that she hadn't thought about what she was doing, or noticed that Ash had fallen forward when she hugged him. Hugging him in an outburst like that was bad enough, but to actually press his face against her chest like that... it couldn't get much more embarrassing for a teenage girl!

Meanwhile in the sofa, Ash was blushing himself. Serena had really grown... _'Stop it!' _he mentally screamed to himself. He shouldn't think thoughts like that! Serena was his friend, not someone he should think about like that. Even if her chest had felt really soft... '_Gah! Don't go there Ash! You knew all along that she wasn't the little girl you used to know! You're not like Brock! You don't think about stuff like that!' _What was he thinking?! He had never been bothered by thoughts like this before. Why was it suddenly all he could think off?! And this strange, warm feeling that was spreading inside his chest... what was it?!

Time ticked by as the two best friends kept looking away from each other, trying to hide their red faces. Silence filled the room for several minutes before finally, Ash was able to shake himself out of his confusing trail of thought.

"Uhm... I-I think we should head out into the kitchen. The others must be waiting for us." he said, but he didn't wait for an answer but just began to walk towards the door.

"Yeah... I think that would be a good idea." Serena said and followed him out. She sincerely hoped that her blush had settled, or Shauna would be at her like a Braviary on a Rattata as soon as she entered the kitchen.

**-X-X-X-**

At the top of Prism Tower, in the Lumiose City Gym Arena, the dust was finally starting to settle. In the stands, a few young trainers were sitting, looking awed at the battlefield that was still covered in dust. In the first row, Bonnie was holding her breath, waiting for her brother's pokemon to emerge. On one side of the field, a blonde boy with glasses in a light blue jumpsuit was standing, sweating from the battle that had taken place. The Lumiose Gym Leader, Clemont, had known this was going to be a tough battle, considering who his opponent was, but he had never imagined it would be this big a difference between himself and the person he looked up to.

On the other side of the field, the challenger hadn't even moved a muscle when the attacks collided. The shockwaves of wind that had blown at him from the explosion had caused his black hair to look unkept, but his ice blue eyes hadn't moved from the spot where his partner had last been seen. Dusk gave a slight grin as Garchomp let out a proud roar and blew away the remaining dust with its wings, revealing itself to be unscarred from the clash. Clemont's Heliolisk on the other hand, looked like it had seen better days. It was panting heavily and its tail looked burned. It had also received a few bruises from the explosion that had happened when Heliolisk had attacked with Dragon Tail, only to be countered by Draco Meteor from Garchomp. Like during the incident when Garchomp had gone berserk, Dusk's partner had opted to send all the meteors straight towards his opponent, instead of having them rain down over them. It made it harder to aim and hit a direct mark, but it doubled its power almost tenfold if all meteors actually hit their target.

"This has been a good battle, Clemont. But it's over now." Dusk called over to his opponent, who almost face faulted.

Clemont shook his head. He wouldn't call this an even battle. Garchomp had completely wrecked his team and it barely looked tired. He knew for a fact that because of Garchomp's ground-typing, he had been at a disadvantage to begin with, but it still bothered him to stand there, looking over the the magnificent dragon and find that it barely looked like it had warmed up. As a fellow scientist, Clemont respected Dusk for his skills when it came to technology and as a battler, he knew that Dusk was way more advanced than him but was this really the difference? He wasn't bad. He wasn't even half bad or he wouldn't have been able to become a Gym Leader. But Dusk wasn't just good. He was professional. It might have been 3 years since he last took part in competitive battling, but he sure hadn't lost his touch. Clemont himself still remembered having watched the final battle of the Hoenn Conference the year Dusk had participated, but it seemed like Garchomp had gotten even stronger since then. Well, this was it. Even if he somehow managed to defeat Garchomp, which was highly unlikely, Dusk still had 2 pokemon left to use and Heliolisk looked like he wouldn't be able to stand much longer.

"Heliolisk! Let's finish this with a boom! Use Dark Pulse!" Clemont called out what he knew would be their final attack. If he was to go down against a person he respected, he wanted to do it fighting with all he had.

Heliolisk gave off a screech and formed a sphere of rotating black rings in between its hands before thrusting his hands forward and shooting the rings towards Garchomp in the form of a beam.

'_Hmm, Dark Pulse is a powerful move, but not being a Dark-Type himself will weaken it for Heliolisk. Garchomp on the other hand is free to use his stab moves as much as he wants.'_ Dusk quickly analyzed the situation, before he thrust his open hand forward in a gesture of advancement.

"Go Garchomp! Use Dragon Rush!" he called.

Lifting itself off the ground, Garchomp avoided being hit by the Dark Pulse as he took off into the air. Once it was flying high enough above the ground, the horns on the side of his head began to glow light blue, before an powerful, flaming aura surrounded him and took the form of a Dragon's head, with Garchomp being in the center of the head. Garchomp zig-zagged through the air, his roars sounding like a mighty echo, before it finally shot off towards Heliolisk, who barely had enough time to blink before the Dragon Rush hit it, causing a ground shaking explosion to wreck the arena and sending Heliolisk flying back and crashing into the wall behind Clemont, knocked out. Having performed its move, Garchomp gave a satisfied "Gar!", before landing in front of his trainer.

Clemont sighed as he pulled out a pokeball and returned Heliolisk. He still had a long way to go.

"You were great Heliolisk. Garchomp was stronger than I thought and you couldn't use your electric type moves, it wasn't your fault we lost." he whispered to the pokeball before turning back to Dusk.

The other boy had already returned his pokemon and was walking towards Clemont with a friendly smile on his face, showing that he meant no harm. Up in the stands, Bonnie had jumped over the ledge and was also making her way towards her brother. The young trainers who had been watching the battle were stunned to say the least and whispered conversations were being held between them.

"Did you see that?! That Garchomp was something else!"

" So that's the power of an elite trainer?! How are we ever supposed to be able to match that?"

"And to think he is only number 20! I wonder how strong number 1 is?"

"I have heard that the number 1 battler is this guy's sister!"

"No, you're joking right?"

Dusk just shook his head and tuned them out. He had been followed by whispers for all his life. In Celestic Town, a place known for its history and its ruins, he had been a black sheep with his interest and skills in science. During his journey, people had always looked at him and speculated if he could live up to his sister's name. After his first journey, he had been the name on everyone's lips wherever he went because of his own prowess... It had been irritating at first, but he had grown used to it.

"Thanks for the battle Dusk. You really showed me that I have a long way to go before I can count myself as an elite." Clemont said as he handed over the Voltage Badge to his challenger.

"You really wasn't that bad, Clemont. Your Heliolisk especially is very well trained and I would have found myself in a tough spot, had I used any other Pokemon than Garchomp." Dusk offered as plaster on the wound.

Clemont just smiled and shook his head.

"But even so, a trainer is supposed to battle to the limit of their abilities. If you had not used Garchomp, you would not have done that." Clemont said while he patted Bonnie on the head.

Dusk just smiled as he looked down on the two siblings. It reminded him of how he and Cynthia used to be when they were younger. Cynthia used to always state that she would become the strongest trainer in the world and put Celestic Town on the world map. And to think that she had managed to actually become the strongest in the world...

Thanking Clemont one last time for the battle, Dusk turned and left. Now that he had done this, he could start preparing for his battle with Ash. He had done some research on Ash and while his overall record wasn't that good, he had noticed one recorded battle that had picked his interest. Ash had beaten Pyramid King Brandon in an official battle. That in itself told him that Ash should not be underestimated. No one beat Brandon without having some kind of true skill and talent, it simply didn't happen. If he actually put some work into it, Brandon would probably tie with Cynthia for the title of strongest trainer in the world. Even Dusk hadn't been able to defeat him. Sure, he hadn't used Garchomp in that battle, but even if he had then Regice would have crushed Garchomp.

Also, it was worth noting that Dusk had won the Lily of the Valley Conference once, so he was definetely better than what his world rank spoke off. When it came to his pokemon, Dusk was pretty sure his Charizard was about his strongest as it stood. But since Charizard had been caught in Kanto, he wouldn't be allowed to use him. Zooming in on the pokemon he would be allowed to use, Ash had a Sceptile, Torkoal, Swellow, Corphish, Glalie, Gible, Torterra, Infernape, Gliscor, Buizel, Staraptor, Krookodile, Boldore, Oshawott, Palpitoad, Leavanny, Scraggy, Unfezant, Snivy and Pignite. According to the official Pokemon League Website, Ash's Sceptile in particular was strong amongst his Hoenn Pokemon, so it was to be asumed that he would be up against Sceptile for the Hoenn Pokemon. The other two was a bit trickier. He could probably sort out Scraggy from the Unova Pokemon, but aside from that Ash had been recored to use all of his Pokemon frequently, even in matches where a normal trainer would not use them because of type disadvantage or any other kind of drawback.

So for his other two picks, he would need to try and think of something else than getting a type advantage. He was pretty confident about his pick for the Hoenn battle, but the other two would be a bit harder since his teams from those regions were a lot more versatile and his Sinnoh Team in particular looked like it could be a challenge. Hmm, he would need to carefully consider all possibilities and try to adapt to that and pick the pokemon that would be most effective overall, rather than the pokemon that would be most effective against a specific pokemon.

**-X-X-X-**

After having spent the morning talking about the upcoming journey and that Serena planned on joining Ash and Brock, which put Grace at ease, all the occupants of the house gathered in the living room again, where Ash pulled out the bag they had gotten from Professor Sycamore. It contained three pokeballs. Shauna looked like christmas had come a few months early. She had stars in her glimmering eyes and was jumping up and down in her place, not being able to stand still for all her excitement. Serena had explained to Ash that Shauna also wanted to go on a journey and that she would get to pick one of the remaining pokemon, once Serena had picked hers. No one questioned that, so they initially moved on to release all three starter Pokemon.

"Alright, here we go!" Brock said as he released the first one.

The pokeball burst open to release a small, orange fox-like creature with red fluff growing out of its ears. It blinked and looked up at the people standing in the room and gave off a happy "Fenn!" before its eyes settled on Serena, who had taken a step forward. Seeing the new Pokemon, Ash pulled out his pokedex.

"_Fennekin, the Fox Pokemon. Fennekin likes to chew on twigs and tend to munch on these as it walks. When they feel threatened, Fennekin will release hot air from its roomy ears."_

Ash looked up at the small pokemon as Serena bent down to give it a pat on the head. Behind him, Grace had made sure that Shauna didn't run over and hug the little pokemon by making a point of holding her by one of her pigtails. The brown haired girl pouted, but didn't say anything. Serena was the one who was supposed to pick first after all. The next Pokemon Brock released took the form of a big, light blue toad. Froakie greeted Serena by saying its name one time before Ash turned his pokedex on the new pokemon.

"_Froakie, the Bubble Frog Pokemon. Froakie can secrete flexible bubbles from its chest and back, which can then be used to reduce damage done to it when attacked. Despite its happy-go-lucky nature, Froakie is very observant and will always keep a watchful eye on its surroundings."_

"A Froakie, huh?" Ash said as he studied the little frog.

Brock just nodded his head and grabbed the last pokeball. By now, Shauna could barely contain her excitement, but she was kept at bay by Grace's grip on her pigtail. Serena leaned over to pat Froakie the same way she had patted Fennekin. Shauna was right, Froakie was also really cute! When Brock released the last pokemon, which looked like a cross between an otter and a mole with a green beret on its head, Ash already had his pokedex at the ready.

"_Chespin, the Spiky Nut Pokemon. The quills on Chespin's head can be hardened enough to pierce straight through a rock. The shell on its head and back is so strong that even a direct hit from a truck won't faze it."_

Hearing about Chespin's capabilities, Ash's eyes shone with childish amazement, not all too different from Shauna's.

"Wow! That is awesome!" he said, almost looking tempted to catch the pokemon then and there.

"Ash, you're not the one who is supposed to get a new pokemon here. It's Serena!" Brock reminded his friend.

Ash grunted, but backed away, slightly red in the face from his outburst. His blush didn't exactly receed by Serena's soft giggle at his antics. With all the pokemon out for show, Serena gave Chespin a pat on the head, careful to avoid the spikes and stood up to study them all. They all looked really cute.

"So, which one are you going to pick?" her mother asked her with a smile.

Serena looked at them all for a moment longer, before she smiled and walked up and bent down in front of Fennekin. The litte Fire-type looked up at her with big eyes, as if it had a hard time believing that she would actually pick it over the other two. Serena just smiled as she reached down to scratch the Fox Pokemon between its ears, causing it to purr, almost like a cat.

"I decided beforehand that I wanted Fennekin, so that's what I will go with." she said. "Would you like to join me on my journey, Fennekin?" she asked sweetly.

The little fire type gave a happy "Groaf!" as an answer and jumped up to hug its new trainer. Serena laughed and caught it in her arms. Ash smiled at the scene and Grace almost had a tear in her eye again. This was something Serena actually wanted, not something that had been forced upon her. As a mother who had made too many mistakes to count, she felt an undescribable happiness at seeing her daughter smile and laugh like that again. She hadn't done that for 7 years.

However, the luck was shortlived as suddenly, something that looked like a huge vacuum cleaner nozzle broke through the window and began sucking up all the pokemon in the room. All the occupants of the room gave surprised yelps as Pikachu, Fennekin, Froakie and Chespin got sucked into the machine, along with a number of other things, before the vacuum cleaner withdrew from the room.

"What in the name of Arceus just happened?!" Shauna screamed in shock.

Once more, Ash groaned. This was all too familiar to be a coincidence. Apparently, Brock thought so too, because he nodded towards Ash as they rose from the floor.

"I bet I know. Let's go!" he said and ran on outside. Brock was quickly on his heels, followed by Serena, Shauna and lastly Grace, who cast an angry glance at her ruined living room before she followed.

When Ash arrived outside he found, just as expected, a large ballon formed like the head of a Meowth floating in the air. Underneath it, a huge machine had been fastened and in a glas cover at its side, their pokemon were locked up. Ash gritted his teeth in anger. Ok, so these maggots had been after his Pikachu for too long to bother trying to count, but to actually try and steal a new trainer's first pokemon... now that was low. And Serena's first Pokemon on top of that!

"Team Rocket! How dare you come here and steal our Pokemon?! Pikachu, I get but leave Fennekin and the others out of this!" he roared in anger as the others flocked around him.

_"Listen, is that a voice I hear?"_

_"It speaks to me, loud and clear." _

_"Melting the wind..."_

_"...Past the stars!"_

_"In ya' ear!"_

_"Bringing chaos at a break neck pace!"  
_

_"Crushing all hope, putting fear in its place!"_

_"No matter your struggle, now you're done!"_

_"You think it's the bottom but our work's just begun!"_

_"It's Jessie!"_

_"And it's James!"_

_"Meowth, dat's a name!"_

_"Putting the do-gooders in their place!"_

_"We're Team Rocket! In ya' face!"_

_"Woooobbufett!"_

Ash sweatdropped. Another one? Couldn't they just stick to one motto? Or better yet, drop them all? Never mind, that didn't matter. What did matter, was that they got their pokemon back!

"Team... Rocket?" Grace frowned. She vaguely remembered the name from her time in Kanto.

While Brock went on to explain to the confused Kalos habitants who Team Rocket were and their history with Ash and Pikachu, Ash gritted his teeth and pulled out a pokeball from his belt. Good thing he had brought more than one pokemon with him, or they would have been in real trouble.

"Charizard! I choose you!" Ash called as he released his mighty dragon-like pokemon. '_Not that I got much of a choice.' _he added bitterly in his mind.

Having recovered from his ordeal after the battle with Garchomp, Charizard rose in his full height and spread his wings wide as he gave a mighty roar and unleashed a stream of fire from his mouth. He still was far from the top of his game, Garchomp had beat him up pretty badly with his Stone Edge, but he felt good enough to call himself healed. Up in the balloon, Team Rocket was starting to question their choice of attacking. They had not counted on Ash bringing another pokemon with him to the new region.

"Oh oh. Looks like da twoip brought along his Charizard!" Meowth said in slight panic.

"Wooobbufett!"

Down on the ground, Charizard was stretching his limbs and wings to try and ease away some of the stiffness from his rehabilitaiton. He growled slightly. If he ever faced off against that bloody Garchomp again, he would sure like to show him what he was capable of when he could fight back.

"Now, it's time you pay for what you did to Garchomp!" Ash roared up at the stunned Team Rocket. "Charizard! Use Flamethrower!"

Over by the group, Serena was watching Ash and Charizard. She had never seen Ash this angry before. He looked utterly furious. Well, if what Brock had just told them was true, then she couldn't really blame him but still, it was a little scary to see him this angry. And the impact of the scene didn't exactly lessen when he had a roaring dragon in front of him either. She swallowed hard as she recognized the orange pokemon that had jumped in to save Professor Sycamore during the Garchomp incident. This was a powerful pokemon, she knew that.

Charizard gave a roar of compliance with his trainer's command, all too happy to be able to actually use a move for offense this time around and opened his jaws wide to let out an enormous stream of fire.

"Wobbufett! Use Mirror Coat!" Jessie called.

The strange, blue pokemon jumped in front of the balloon and ws covered in a strange, glowing aura that formed a kind of shield in front of him. Ash's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen and he tried to warn Charizard.

"Watch out!"

Too late. The Flamethrower hit the shield and got reversed at double the power, sending an even bigger stream of fire back at Charizard, whose eyes widened in surprise. He was just about to fly away to save himself when he realized that Ash was standing behind him. If he took off now, then Ash would be creamed and not only that but probably Brock and the other people who was standing by the house. Growling at his bad luck, Charizard forced down his instinct that told him to escape and spread his wings wide to try and cover the ones in danger, absorbing the reflected Flamethrower.

"Charizard!" Ash cried out in shock. Why hadn't Charizard listened to him? It had been a very long time since Charizard had been disobedient.

Over by the house, Serena had covered her mouth with her hands as she saw Charizard stand and take the hit, despite Ash's order. Grace too was shocked at this turn of events.

"Why didn't Charizard listen to Ash?" Shauna exclaimed in shock.

For an instance, an image of the times when Charizard refused to listen to Ash's commands flashed before Brock's eyes, but he quickly shook them out of his head. That wasn't it. Those actions had always only been selfish, and taking a Flamethrower head on did not count as selfish in Brock's mind.

"He must have realized that if he took off, then Ash would have been hit by the Flamethrower instead!" he gasped as he realized how close to the action Ash was standing.

Serena also gasped when she realized that Ash could have been seriously hurt. Ash however, didn't seem too worried about his onw well being, but rather the well being of his Pokemon that had just gotten hit by his own attack and was now paying the price for its nobility.

"Charizard! Hold on!" he shouted as he tried to think of a way to help his friend.

Charizard gritted his teeth as he tried to hold in another roar of pain. Up in the balloon, Team Rocket was laughing at his struggle against his own attack. Pikachu was desperately trying to break out of his glas cover, but to no avail. The other small pokemon wasn't fairing much better. Fennekin was trying to tackle the glas, but only got thrown back as a result. Froakie tried to use Bubble to break the glas but that was doomed to fail too. Chespin was just sitting in its cover, not even moving. It was all on him.

If he couldn't do anything now, then they would lose Pikachu and the others. He couldn't give up, no matter how much it burned! NO! HE WOULDN'T! Feeling determination surge through his veins as a new power found its way into him, Charizard gave off a loud roar as the flames from the Flamethrower covered him completely. But they didn't disappear as the stream died down, but stayed around him like a flaming aura. Growling slightly from the strange feeling of having more part of his body than his tail covered in flames, Charizard to to the air and charge towards the balloon and the now once again scared Team Rocket.

Ash gasped as he saw Charizard take off. He recognized that move all too well.

"Charizard has learned Flare Blitz!" he gasped in shock.

They all watched in awe as Charizard charge towards Team Rocket at high speed, covered in flames. Wobbufett tried to block it with Mirror Coat, but he was sent flying. That's when it hit Ash. Mirror Coat could only reflect _special _attacks, but not _physical _attacks. And all this time, he had thought that Wobbufett could reflect any attack...

"Fennekin!" Serena suddenly shouted as Charizard hit the machine and destroyed it, causing all the pokemon to fall.

Without waiting another second, she took off in the direction where Fennekin and the others were falling. Realizing that Pikachu was also falling, Ash was not far behind her and Shauna was quick to give chase, hoping to catch Froakie. The four falling Pokemon screamed as they fell. Pikachu was the first to land, straight into Ash's arms. Ash flashed him a friendly smile before he immediately returned his attention to the falling starters. Serena was placed to catch Fennekin and Shauna seemed to have Froakie under control, but no one had watched out for Chespin. The poor Spiky Nut Pokemon had rolled up into a ball.

"Don't worry Chespin! I'll catch you!" Ash shouted and tried to reach the falling pokemon.

Instead, Chespin hit him in the head, causing him to fall to the ground, knocked out. Pikachu sweatdropped at his trainer.

"Fennekin! Thank Arceus that you are ok, I was so worried!" Serena said as she hugged her starter Pokemon.

She had just met the little Fox Pokemon, but she already felt a bond with it. Apparently, Fennekin did the same, because it leaned into her and nuzzled her neck affectionately. Serena laughed as Fennekins fur tickled her. In that moment, she knew that she hand Fennekin would become great friends. Just like Ash and Pikachu. Wait, where was Ash and Pikachu? Frowning, Serena looked around and found Ash knocked out on the ground, with Pikachu and Chespin standing over him.

"What happened to Ash?" Serena wondered, worried that he might be hurt.

Just then, Brock and Grace caught up with them.

"I guess that thing the pokedex said about Chespin's shell being hard enough to protect it from a truck crash really is true." Brock said as he looked down at his knocked out friend.

Chespin gave an apologizing "Ches..." and began scratching the back of its head in embarrasment. Serena still bent down to make sure Ash hadn't received any major injury but he seemed to be fine. Grace and Brock chuckled as the embarrassed little Spiky Nut joined Serena in checking on Ash's health.

"Hey! I think Froakie likes me!" Shauna's voice came from somewhere behind them.

"Froak!" came Froakie's voice in a happy, singing tone.

Serena turned around to find her friend walking towards them with the Bubble Frog Pokemon resting on her head. It looked like those two were already becoming friends. Just like herself and Fennekin. Thinking about it sent shivers down Serena's spine. This was where it all started. Her new life. But this time, her new life was not forced upon her, but it was something she had chosen herself. And she had been blessed by Ash's being in Kalos at the exact same time she set out. This time, she didn't move away from something she didn't want to leave. This time, she left something she wanted to leave and was just about to do something that she felt she really wanted. And knowing that this time, Ash would be there with her filled her with happiness she hadn't felt for years. As Grace and Brock decided to go back to the house and try to treat Ash's bulb on his head there, Serena hugged Fennekin close to her chest and smiled at them all. A smile that warmed the hearts of everyone present. Shauna smiled back at her, having never seen Serena smile so warmly at anyone before. Brock felt happy that Serena seemed to have gotten over whatever problems she had had the night before, thanks to Ash and Grace was trying hard not to cry again. When she had offered her daughter the chance of going on a journey, she had felt hesistant at first and had done it reluctantly because she didn't know what else to do. But it seemed like for once, she had done the right thing for Serena. For once, she had helped Serena become happy, and that in her heart, made her happy too.

* * *

**A/N: **_So... that was a slightly shorter chapter than usually, but I hope it was ok. I am not sure that I did the scene with Team Rocket so well, but that one was seriously harder to write than I would have thought... because all they do is shout nonsense and it is hard to write a good scene about that. _

_Anyway, there was a change in the Pokemon List here so I will feature all Pokemon used in this chapter down below:_

**_Ash Ketchum:_**

_Charizard: Flamethrower, Wing attack, Dragon Tail, Flare Blitz_

_Pikachu: Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, Iron Tail, Electro Ball_

**_Dusk:_**

_Garchomp: Flamethrower, Draco Meteor, Stone Edge, Dragon Rush_

**_Clemont: _**

_Heliolisk: Thunderbolt, Dragon Tail, Parabolic Charge, Dark Pulse_

**_Serena:_**

_Fennekin_

**_Shauna:_**

_Froakie: Bubble_

**_Jessie:_**

_Wobbufett: Mirror Coat_

_And that's it. I don't think anyone else used a Pokemon in this chapter. So, now that we got that out of the way, I believe I promised to start up some new features here, right? So here we go! _

**Oakdex of the Day:** Here, I will give you a pokedex entry from one of the games, and I will give my view on it and just talk about it for a few lines. I will start by quoting the dex entry and say which game it comes from. After that, I will simply tell you what I think about it and those are all my opinions. And to start things off, I will do one of the, in my opinion, weirdest Pokedex entries I have ever read:

Darumaka: Pokemon White Version

_"Darumaka's droppings are hot, so people used to put them in their clothes to keep themselves warm."_

Oakdex: "Alright... so here's the deal... Darumaka poops and then people put it in their clothes to keep warm... In a world where they can revive dead pokemon from pieces of rock and build giant, floating ships that is so high tech it can become invisible, they couldn't think of any better way to keep warm? And before you go pointing it out, I know that it says "used to", but still... if you got a Darumaka, why not just ask it to warm you up with a fire move? I originally read this Pokedex entry on and I couldn't stop laughing when I first read it. It is just too absurd. I mean... seriously? Can you imagine yourself putting ANYTHINGS poop in your clothes to keep yourself warm? I sure can't... And yeah, I know that Pokemon is supposed to be a children's game, but still... Game Freak shouldn't encourage children to play with poop XD Eww..."

_And that was the first Oakdex. If you got a pokedex entry that you think are just really weird or funny or even scary, then please tell me and I will bring it up. And please tell me what you think of this feature. Now, on to the next one. Here we got MY Top 10 favourite Pokemon!_

_**Note: **Before we start, I would like to point out that this is just my opinion and this isn't based on any kind of facts.  
_

**NUMBER 10!**

**Ditto: **When I was a kid and started playing Gold and Silver, breeding had just been introduced to the pokemon games. And Ditto was the perfect partner to use. It could breed with any pokemon that could breed in any way and everyone used it. And to top it off, Ditto was the only Pokemon except Mew that could learn Transform. While not a very strong pokemon on its own, I always loved to use Ditto in the Pokemon League and turn into Lance's Dragonite. All in all, Ditto was fun to play with and is still to this date one of my favourite Pokemon!

**NUMBER 9!**

**Audino: **Introduced in the 5th generation, Audino quickly became one of the pokemon from that generation I liked a lot, but not because it was actually good to use. Audino could only appear in certain spots, called Shaking Grass, and so you always knew where to find it. And to top it off, Audino gave you crazy exp when you defeated it. For fast training, I would just run up and down just outside a patch of grass and wait for the shaking spot to appear. Audino was also pretty easy to beat, since it wasn't really that strong in battle, and on later levels it began using Heal Pulse, a move that actaully healed you rather than hurt you.

And to add to my like of this little buddy, when I started playing Pokemon Trading Card Game Online, Audino was the first card to win a match for me. And it is still to this date the pokemon I have managed to deal most damage with in one single attack.

**NUMBER 8!**

**Houndoom: **As I said, I started playing pokemon in Gold and Silver and in those games, Dark types were among the rarest ones out there, with only a very small amount of pokemon having it. Houndoom was a pretty good fire type, and to top it off I just liked the fact that it looked like a hellhound. I can't really describe why I liked Houndoom so much, but I still remember the thrill when I caught my first Houndoor and evolved it.

**NUMBER 7!**

**Jigglypuff: **Anyone, and I mean ANYONE who watched the anime as a kid should be able to figure out why I like Jigglypuff. You can't? Well, whatever. I always found it hilarious when Jigglypuff showed up, looking for someone who would listen to its song and then sang them to sleep, only to get annoyed and pull out a permanent marker from its microphone. And I really miss it. It was one of my favourite characters in the entire anime!

**NUMBER 6!**

**Chikorita: **Chrikorita and I share a special bond. It was the very first Pokemon I ever owned in my first ever Pokemon game, Pokemon Gold Version. I originally wanted to pick Totodile, but I accidently picked Chikorita instead because I didn't understand when I was supposed to say NO to my pick because... well, I didn't know english back then. But I didn't give up and just kept using Chikorita instead and we shared some really nice adventures. I didn't know how to catch Pokemon back then, so I kept just using Chikorita so after a lot of struggle, I faced the Elite Four with a lvl 82 Meganium. Chikorita was my first partner, and I also liked it in the anime because it was so cute.

**NUMBER 5!**

**Larvitar: **In my first game, Larvitar was the last pokemon you could catch, only within Mt Silver. And if you trained it, it could grow into the most fearsome of beasts in the game. My goal as a kid was to catch a Larvitar and train it all the way up to a Tyranitar. I managed it after some time, and I felt so damn proud of myself. And when Larvitar appeared in the anime... I just felt so bad for him. He was so innocent and yet he had been exposed to such cruelty... I remember wishing he would have stayed with Ash, but nowadays, I am almost glad he didn't. Larvitar wasn't meant to go with Ash. So in both games and anime, Larvitar used to be my favourite and he is still pretty close to the top.

**NUMBER 4!**

**Gliscor: **When the 4th generation was released, one of my immediate favourites within it was Gliscor. It was the first pokemon I made sure to get once I had beat Pokemon Pearl and it was always on my team in Pokemon Platinum. Gliscor was also my ace when I played Pokemon Coloseum, having been downloaded from my Platinum. With a variety of different moves and one really handy luck with Guiltoine, I managed to pull off 20 victories and only lost 3 matches I used Gliscor in. Don't ask me how I did it, it was just crazy. I faced a lot of better trained pokemon but somehow, Gliscor always came through for me and it drove my opponents nuts to lose to someone who hadn't even heard of EV training before. And all in all, Gliscor's design is awesome!

**NUMBER 3!**

**Sneasel: **Along with Larvitar, Sneasel was one of my favourite Pokemon back in Pokemon Gold. It was just so cool looking and you got it so late in the game that I thought it had to be awesome. When generation 4 came out and Sneasel received an evolution, Weavile had high expectations in my mind. And it lived up to them. Except for the fact that it was always on my team as my natural counter against Cynthia's Garchomp, Sneasel is also the only Pokemon that have appeared to me as a shiny when I was actually looking for it. I had caught 3 Sneasels but none with good enough stats, when suddenly a Shiny Sneasel appeared to me. Perfect stats, Perfect everything and Shiny on top of that. That Weavile was also part of my team that wrecked Pokemon Coloseum and was one of my strongest during online battling. And really, how badass doesn't a pink Weavile look?

**NUMBER 2!**

**Elekid: **There is just something about Elekid that I like. It might be because it grows into Electabuzz, that used to be one of my favourite Pokemon in the older generations or it might be because those things it got on its head makes it look like a big, yellow wandering plug. Whatever it is, Elekid will always be one of my favourite pokemon.

**NUMBER 1!**

**Garchomp: **If I liked Tyranitar in Gold, Garchomp quickly took his spot from Pearl and onward. Just look at him. He looks so terrifying and powerful! And how awesome isn't it with a Shark on land? Like with so many others on this list, I can't really think up enough reasons for me to like him so I'll just go and say that I like him because of all that he is and if I get a Pokemon X or Y this christmas, he will be the first one I put on the team when I have caught a Gible!

_And there we have it! I hope you enjoyed the extra features and please tell me what you think of the chapter. And once again, I got a new poll up so if you want to see more Top 10s, go vote for your favourite or give me a suggestion on what you would like to see. And once more, I hope you all have a very merry christmas!_


	8. Departure

**A/N: **_Hello Pokemon fans and welcome back to yet another chapter of Serene Phoenix! Before we start, I want to thank you all for your Merry Christmases in all those different languages. And someone mentioned they didn't know I could speak "norweigan or a similar nordic language". My answer to that is that I am from Sweden. I live there and have lived there since I was a kid. So Swedish is my native tongue, english is just my secondary language. So for those of you who didn't know, "God Jul" means "Merry Christmas" in swedish! :D_

_On a more depressing note, I would like to tell LelouchXKallen to get out of here, if he reads this. Your declared hate of my writing, my story and my OC Dusk was completely uncalled for and if you really hate it that much, then don't read it. It makes absolutely no sense to me that you declare your hate of my fic and then reads 2 more chapters, just so you can leave another review where you declare the same. I have nothing against constructive critism, but I want them to make valid points, which you failed to do. So if you read this, I politely ask that you stop right here and leave now._

_On a happier note, this will soon be the most followed AshxSerena story here on FF. And I know that I didn't answer any of your reviews this time, but I put my computer away over christmas to spend time with my family and to go into nerd mode with my new Pokemon X, but since most of you pretty much said the same things I just want to thank you all for your support. Now, I've wasted enough of your time. Here comes chapter 8!_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: **Departure

Two days had passed since the Team Rocket incident. It had been two very long days. For Serena, it had felt almost as if time had dragged itself by like a snail. After Ash woke up from his Chespin Knock-Out, they had went to Shauna's house to talk to her mother about Shauna's journey. Or well, Brock had done the talking while Ash was being bothered by Sean, Shauna's younger brother. Apparently, Sean had seen Ash on TV during some of the Conferences he had watched lately. Being a huge fan of Pokemon Battling, the young boy had developed the habit of watching every single Conference Match they showed on TV. While Kanto and Johto were never broadcast in Kalos, they usually broadcasted the Hoenn Conference Semi-finals and Final, as well as all the finals in Sinnoh and Unova.

Serena had, despite Shauna's protests against "giving the brat what he wanted", found herself sitting on the floor next to him while Ash told his point of view on the matches and also filled them in on his first two Conferences in Kanto and Johto. It had stung her a little to hear that he had travelled Kanto without her, but on the other hand she really couldn't blame him for it. It did make her happy to hear that he had done pretty decently in his first Conference and that he had only kept on growing since then, up until his drop during the Unova Conference.

"So why did you lose so early in that Conference?" Sean wanted to know, having an almost starstruck expression on his face as he looked at Ash.

Truth to be told, Serena wasn't very much into Pokemon Battling, but she found it really interesting to listen to Ash telling them about his victories and how he had managed to come back after a loss. As Ash told Sean about various factors that could have contributed to his early loss in the Unova Conference, Serena cast a glance towards the kitchen where Brock and Shauna were talking to Shauna's mother about the journey, what the benefits could be and why she should let Shauna go.

"So, what made you decide to keep going after that loss, instead of taking a break and train?" Sean asked with a curious look on his face.

This caused Serena to turn her attention back to Ash who, for some unknown reason, had suddenly become very quiet. She looked over at him and found him blushing slightly, causing her to frown in confusion. Was there an embarrassing reason that had made him want to keep going after suffering such a huge disappointment in Unova? Then, without making a sound, Ash reached inside his pocket and pulled out... a pink band? What was so embarrassing about that? However, as Sean looked at it with a confused look and Pikachu sniffed it carefully, trying to determine what was so special about it, Serena suddenly gasped as she recognized it.

"I-is that...?" she asked, feeling a strange bump in her chest.

Without turning to look at her, Ash smiled slightly and put it down on the ground between them. Pikachu gave it one last sniff, then looked up at Serena, then back at the band, almost confirming her suspiscions.

"I got a kind of reminder. I used to have a very good friend when I was a child, about your own age in fact Sean. We used to do everything together and we always dreamed of what it would be like to grow up and become Pokemon trainers." Ash sat down in a story-teller position as he began to tell Sean about the reason he had decided to keep going even when everything had seemed down.

As Serena heard him confirm her suspiscion, she felt her heart constrict and almost thought a tear formed in her eye. It really was. It was the same pink band that used to be attached to her Straw Hat when she was a child. Even after all, these years, Ash still had it. She had thought he had gotten rid of it or lost it. It certainly would be just like him to lose something. But he hadn't. He still had it. Sure, Serena also still had the handkerchief he had given her, but that handkerchief had actually represented something between them. It had been the thing that brought them together. The pink band had no such value in her eyes. She swallowed hard as Ash continued his story.

"When I first met her, she had hurt her leg and was whining that she couldn't stand up straight, so I bandaged her knee with a handkerchief and told her to 'Never give up until the end'. And as we grew closer to each other, that line kind of became our motto. We always told one another to never give up, no matter what."

As Ash said this, Serena slowly reached inside her pocket and pulled out the very same handkerchief that he was talking about. Seeing this, Ash smiled at her. Serena smiled back as she put it down, next to the pink band. Sean's eyes were big as saucers as he looked down at the two items, before he looked up at Ash, then over at Serena and then back again.

"But one day, she moved away and I would never see her again. When she was just about to leave, she gave me this band to remember her by. So when I felt down because of my loss, I pulled out this band and tried to remember that conviction. 'Never give up until the end'. With that in mind, I was able to see forward to what was lying ahead, instead of dwelling on the past. I decided to learn from my mistakes, instead of trying to cover them up and that's why I set off to Kalos. I can't change my loss in Unova, but I won't be able to get past it unless I go to new regions and compete there." Ash finished, hoping that the boy would understand what he was trying to say.

Sean however, had just realized who this mysterious childhood friend of Ash's was and had turned to stare at Serena with shock written all over his face.

"You never told me that you were friends with Ash Ketchum!" Sean exclaimed accusingly as he looked over at Serena.

Serena blinked in confusion. Had she never mentioned it? Over in his own spot, Ash had to cover his mouth with his hand to stiffle his laughter, while Pikachu was sitting on the ground beside him, not even trying to hold in his snickers at the oddity of the situation.

"I'm pretty sure I did once or twice at your dinnertable when your sister was teasing me about it, but you were always too busy eating to listen to what was being said." Serena answered while she cast a sideway glance towards Ash.

After that, Shauna's voice had rang through the house in a happy squeal of delight, making it pretty obvious what her mother's answer had been. Their objective done, Ash, Serena and Brock had left Shauna with her family to spend the rest of the day at Serena's house, where Grace had kept on telling Serena that they should probably go shopping the next day so that she was sure she had everything for their journey. While Serena had tried to assure her that she had everything she needed already packed, Brock had stepped in and said that he would gladly go shopping the next day, as he needed to restuck on potions, as most of his stock had been used up during Charizard's battle with Garchomp. Swearing under her breath, Serena had grudgingly accepted to go on a shopping trip the following day, even if it meant that their departure would be postponed.

The shopping trip had proven to be quite delightful, despite Serena's initial reluctance. When Brock had refilled his potion stock, Grace had led them to the clothing store, to Serena's surprise and delight. Ash had immediately began complaining about clothes being boring and by the sounds of the "Pika..."-s that the yellow rodent on his shoulder gave off, he had similar thoughts. So while Serena was trying out new clothes for her journey, Ash and Pikachu had went to buy new pokeballs. While she was a little bit disappointed that Ash didn't want to be part of picking out her new outfit, Serena couldn't really say she was surprised. As sweet as he could be, he was still a _boy _after all.

When she had finally settled for a simple black shirt with white collar, a red skirt and black tights, along with a pair of simple black shoes, Serena had been surprised when her mother insisted that she would pay for it all. Her mother had always been very strict about money and always said that Serena were to pay for her own clothes. She didn't really mind that since that meant that she would be able to buy her own stuff without having to listen to her mother's opinions, but that had still made her feel like her mother was keeping her at arms' length. However, she didn't complain and once they had payed, they had made their way over to the Pokeball shop to pick up Ash... only to find that he wasn't there.

"Now where did he run off to?" Grace sighed. While she had not seen much of him since she met him again, it wasn't hard to tell that he was still as energic as he used to be 7 years ago. That energy had been annoying at times and it had a tendency to get him into trouble, such as when he accidently woke up her Rhyhorn from its afternoon nap and got chased around their garden by the grumpy Spikes Pokemon.

"I'll bet anything that he managed to snap up the scent of food on the way here and got lead away by that scent." Brock said as he rubbed his eyes in annoyance.

Serena didn't say anything, because she had just heard the doorbell ring as the front door to the small shop opened. She turned around and found Ash standing there panting, holding something behind his back. On his shoulder, Pikachu was shaking his head at his trainer. It didn't take Serena long to be in his face.

"Where did you run off to?" she asked suspisciosly.

Seeing the disappointed look in her eyes, Ash shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. Now he had done it. This time, he had really messed up.

"Uhm, I didn't think you would be here so quickly." he said, trying to avoid meeting her gaze.

Brock sweatdropped at this attempt to slither out of the situation. Quickly? They had been in the clothing store for 1 hour! Behind him, Grace seemed to have similar thoughts, because she just sighed and shook her head. Yup, Ash definetely was still the same. Serena however, did not take so kindly being lied to.

"Oh, don't try that one with me, Mr Ketchum! Where have you been and why did you lie to me?" she hissed, angry that Ash had lied to her. It was one thing to say that he didn't want to see her try out different outfits. That one, she could understand and even accept. But to actually lie to her to get out of that clothing store...

Ash cringed when he saw the look of hurt in her eyes. He hadn't meant to lie to her. He really did need to stack up on Pokeballs, but he had something else he had wanted to do first that had taken longer than he had anticipated. With a defeated sigh, he held out his hand and revealed the wrapped up present he had been hding behind his back. It took a moment for Serena to register what it was he was holding, but when she did her face took on a look of utter confusion.

"Well, I wanted to surprise you and give you this. You know, I had saved a lot of money to give you something special when we started our supposed journey in Kanto, but when you moved away, those savings were wasted on a Water Rifle that I used to drench Gary in sour MooMoo milk. So I figured I should get you something this time around instead, since this is your first journey." he said as he handed the present to her.

Serena's eyes widened in shock as she took the present. Behind her, Brock was gaping at what he had just heard. Since when did Ash think about stuff like that? Come to think of it, Ash had seemed almost like a completely different person since they met Serena again. But this? This was just too weird. Grace blinked in surprise, obviously just as shocked at Ash's actions as Brock and Serena herself was.

"Wha... You didn't need to..." Serena whispered, still in shock.

Ash scratched the back of his head in nervousity. This was so unlike him, but he had felt a little guilty for wasting the money he had saved specifically for his best friend on something as trivial as to make life sour for Gary. Sure, it had been extremely entertaining to watch and listen to the tantrum Gary threw over his soaked clothes and hair, but those had been savings he had put aside for Serena's gift specifically, even if she hadn't known about it.

"Well, I only felt that it was right, considering I kind of wasted the money I had set aside for you and on top of that have missed 7 of your birthdays. So go ahead, open it." Ash said while he was watching his childhood friend with a nervous look in his eyes, afraid that she wouldn't like what he had bought.

Serena managed to somehow shake herself out of her stupor and began to unwrap the present. She swallowed to try and calm her beating heart. She had lost count of the times her mood and feelings had shifted the last two days. It was like her life had been turned into an emotional roller coaster since Ash walked back into her life. Once the wrapping was off, she found herself holding a big, white box. She frowned and removed the top of it and peeked inside and found a big, pink hat. She slowly reached inside and pulled the hat out while Ash took the box so she could examine it with both her hands. It was a simple large, pink hat with a black band and bow tied around it. For something Ash had picked out, it was actually pretty stylish. Serena bit her lip to try and hold back the tears of joy that theatened to spill over and instead carefully placed the hat on her head, causing Ash to give her a smile.

"It looks really good on you." he said while he put the wrapping paper in the now empty box and closed it.

Not knowing what to say, Serena opted to simply pull him into a hug, careful to keep his head at the same height as her own, still having yesterday morning's embarrassing hug episode in fresh memory. She blushed slightly as she thought about it, but luckily no one saw it as she had her faced burrowed in Ash's shoulder.

"Thank you so much. I don't know what to say." Serena whispered into his ear.

Relieved that she seemed to like his gift, Ash wrapped his own arms around the girl. He knew that he was terrible when it came to fashion. Dawn had told him as much during their travels through Sinnoh. But at least, it would seem like he had managed to actually buy something that was fashionable enough for someone like Serena, whom had revealed that she was very interested in fashion.

While the two had been talking and hugging, Grace and Brock had made their way over to the two with smiles on their faces. Brock was starting to the seed to a buddling romance between the two childhood friends and Grace was just happy that her daughter was starting to look really happy again. Sure, it did worry her a little that her daughter seemed to be so... interested in Ash, but in the back of her head she tried to reason that if Serena were to get a boyfriend, she would prefer it to be someone who made her happy and actually cared for her, rather than one of those perverted teenage boys who she had caught sending hungry glances towards her daughter's womanly features when they thought she wasn't looking. And Ash fit in quite well in the first category.

"Not to break the moment or anything, but how on earth did it take you an entire hour to pick out a hat?" Brock asked. He could guess that Ash had gotten lost on the way to the shop, but Aquacorde Town wasn't big and even Ash should have been able to find his way eventually.

Breaking up the hug and grinning sheepishly while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, Ash decided to just tell the truth.

"Well, I had some trouble deciding on the hat. The truth is, I really do need to stack up on Pokeballs, but buying that hat would break my wallet completely. So I had a tough time deciding if I should buy the hat and try to do without pokeballs or buy a cheaper one and still be able to stack up on a few pokeballs. In the end, I figured that Serena was more important so I just went ahead and bought it, but then I had trouble wrapping it up and well, it took me longer than I had expected to find my way back here." he said.

Everyone sweatdropped, including Pikachu who had been with him the whole time. Only Ash could have so much trouble with something as simple as buying a hat. However, behind her comical expression and her slightly pink cheeks, Serena felt her heart swell with happiness at what Ash had just told her. He had went through all that trouble, even if it was trivial, just to buy her this hat. Knowing that, she knew that she would treassure this hat almost as much as she treassured her friendship with Ash.

And that had been the end of that. Serena had only taken the hat off once since then, in order to sleep. But recieving the gift had also caused something else to stir within Serena. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, Ash was also experiencing these strange feelings for her that she was experiencing towards him. Just buying a gift for her like that out of the blue was pretty out of character for someone like Ash and when she had asked Brock about it, he had just shrugged and said that Ash had been weird ever since they met up with her. If that was the case, then could it be that Ash was actually starting to return her feelings? She still wasn't sure if it was really love she was feeling, but if it was then would that mean that they really could become... like, _a couple_? She still remembered the possessiveness and panic she had felt when Shauna had suggested that she could become Ash's girlfriend in place of Serena, if Serena didn't want him. Did that mean that she wanted him for herself? She had forced herself not to think about such things, but now that she was all alone, lying in her bedroom and trying to fall alseep, she had allowed her inner feelings and thoughts to surface.

The thought of getting romantically involved with a boy still scared her. Boys her age could be really unpredictable. She had seen how some of the boys in the town had practically drooled while looking at her and that wild look they had in their eyes had always felt scary and made her feel uncomfortable. And she also knew that some girls her age that had gotten involved with a boy had been convinced to engage in... _certain activities_ a little to early and then been simply tossed aside when the boy in question had found someone else he liked more. Serena didn't want that to happen. She didn't want something like that happening between her and Ash. But would something like that really happen between them? Ash wasn't like that, was he? Not the Ash she knew and loved... Wait, did she just admit that she loved him? Aaah! This whole not knowing if she really was in love or not was killing her. Ok, so let's say that she did love him, but what if she was just overthinking this and he still only regarded her as his childhood friend, like the little girl in the Straw Hat? What would happen then? Would she be able to accept that he didn't like her the same way she liked him? Once more, she was reminded about the panic she had felt when Shauna had offered to become Ash's girlfriend. No, she would most likely not be able to accept that. So what could she do to make sure Ash liked her the same way? Would she need to offer herself up on a silver plate like some of the more easy-going girls she had seen? They did seem like the ones who could get a boyfriend without any problems... but no, that wasn't true love. She doubted that was how it was supposed to be. Perhaps she should just try and pry the answer out of him sometime when they were alone? Now that they were going on a journey together, that shouldn't be too hard. Surely, Brock wouldn't be around them all the time. Yes, that was probably the best way to tackle this. No easy-going, no silver plate, just a simple conversation where they talked to each other as equals. With that resolve in mind, Serena rolled over in her bed and felt herself drift off to dream land. She would need to carefully consider how she shoudl approach Ash about the subject, but right now she was too tired.

**-X-X-X-**

The following morning found Ash, Brock and Serena standing at the exit to Aquacorde Town, before the sun had even rose. They had gotten up early, so that they would be ready to leave as soon as they could. Serena especially had been eager to finally get going, seeing as Shauna already had a head start on them. The other girl hadn't been bothered to buy new clothes and stuff for her journey and had set out the day before with her Froakie. Not that Serena complained. If they hadn't gone shopping yesterday, Ash wouldn't have bought her this new hat. She did feel a little bad about it breaking his wallet, but he had told her not to sweat it so she tried to not let it bother her. As it was now, they were all standing at the beginning of Route 2. Ash grinned widely as they were finally about to set out, Serena felt her chest bubble with excitement and Brock kind of just smiled at the two, glad to see that they were in high spirits.

Behind them, Grace was look at the back of her daughter with mixed feelings. Yesterday, it had felt so good to know that her daughter was finally about to be able to do something she herself really wanted, but then when she had been lying in her bed, trying to fall asleep, she had felt doubt overcome her. She had offered to buy all of Serena's new stuff as a means of showing that she really did care about her, as opposed to what Serena seemed to think after years of unknown rejection, but she had not actually tried talking to Serena about it. What if Serena just walked away from her here and now and never returned? It would certainly be easy for her to just disappear now, and it would definetely not be hard for her to do, if she really didn't think of Vaniville Town as her home. It would be easy for her to go through this journey and then just follow Ash back to Pallet, which she seemed to regard as her "true" home...

As Ash and Brock bid her farewell, she just waved her hand absentmindedly, waiting to see what Serena would do, but her daughter just gave her a quick "Good bye" and then began to walk down the road to follow her friends, without even turning to look at Grace. Knowing that this might be her last chance to ever make up with Serena, Grace swallowed and called out to her daughter.

"Serena, wait!"

The three trainers came to a stop and Ash and Brock turned around to look at her with confusion. But Serena didn't. It tore at Grace's heart to see her daughter not paying her any mind like this. Everything had seemed so fine until today, but the closer they had gotten to the departure, the more Serena seemed to not want anything to do with her. Grace sent Ash a pleading look, desperately hoping he would understand and the teen just nodded.

"We'll wait for you in front of Santalune Forest. I think your mother wants to talk to you." he said to the honey-blonde girl, who just nodded stiffly.

When Brock frowned at this, once more impressed with the more mature persona Ash displayed in Serena's prescence, the young Pokemon Trainer grabbed his arm and pulled him along. Pikachu cast a glance at Serena over Ash's shoulder, but her eyes were covered in the shadow from her hat.

Once the three of them were out of earshot, Grace to a shallow breath and stepped up so she was standing a few feet behind her daughter. Serena still didn't move a muscle, as if she was determined not to show that she knew she was there. Grace felt her a coldness spread through her chest as she recognized that this was probably how Serena had felt all those times she had wanted something and Grace had only ignored her wishes, such as when they moved away from Pallet.

"Serena, I need to know. Will you be coming back? Or will this be the last time I see you? I know I haven't been the best of parents, but I truly am sorry." she said, feeling her eyes grow wet as she looked at her daughter's stiff back.

Upon hearing her mother's words, Serena clenched her right hand into a fist. She swallowed harshly. Why was she doing this? Where was this anger coming from? She had felt so much better after talking to Ash about it, but it would seem she still hadn't let it all out.

"All I needed from you was care. I needed to feel that I really meant something to you, but I never got that impression. It was all just about you and your career, you never payed me any mind if you didn't think it was important." Serena found herself whispering. It was almost like someone else was using her body and speaking for her. But it was all true. That was how she had felt and all that she had ever wanted from her mother. The parental care a mother was supposed to give their children.

"Why? Why couldn't you give me that? You always gave me a lot of stuff and hoped it would make me feel wanted, but you always failed to really give me that feeling of motherly love that I saw every time I was over at Ash's house, between him and his mother."

Grace's tears finally spilled over. This was the silent resentment that Serena had built up against her, the true feelings of loneliness that had dwelled inside of her daughter. They had always gotten along, well most of the time at least, but that had been because Serena had swallowed down all of these feelings and surpressed them. And it was all because of her.

"I... I always only did what I thought was best for you." she answered weakly.

Serena bit her lip as she felt tears burning beneath her eyelocks. She knew that her mother had always meant well. It had been hard to see back when she was a child but when she had grown up and her mother's career had stopped, she had seen that she really did care about her. But that still didn't stop her from feeling rejected in a way.

"And that was your problem! You always did what _you _thought was best and never payed any attention to what others thought or what _I _thought for that matter either. I get that you as a grown up had a better understanding of basically everything in the world, but for a grown up you had a very BAD understanding of your own daughter!" Serena almost shouted as she felt her tears finally spill over. She spun around to look her mother in the eyes.

Grace swallowed. Serena was right. She had been right all along. Grace had never listened to her when she was younger. Looking back now, it was all so clear what she had needed to do. Had she just at least given Serena more attention, given her the time and love she deserved, then they wouldn't be standing here today. Perhaps they would still be living in Pallet Town? Perhaps Serena wouldn't have waited 5 years to start her journey, but would have set out along with Ash when they turned 10, just like they had wanted?

"I know... I know it's a little late now, but I know that I was wrong and if I could, I would go back and change it but I can't!" Grace cried back at her daughter.

Seeing that her mother was breaking down, Serena tried to take a deep breath and calm herself. She didn't hate her mother. She hated the fact that she had never shown her motherly love when she was younger, but that didn't mean she hated her. They usually got along, just that they tended to be a bit more distanced than most families...

"Look mom, I want it all to just be undone too, but we can't change what happened. Those mistakes will always be there, no matter how much we try to ignore them. And until just a few days ago, I always thought that this would be hanging over us like a dark cloud over a flower garden." Serena said as she slowly closed the distance between her and her mother.

Trying to dry her tears with her hand, Grace drew a shaking breath as she listened to her daughter talking. As Serena made her way over to her, Grace didn't know what to do. She really did love Serena as a mother, but for some reason she didn't seem to be able to get that through to her. Had their relationship really been too damaged in her childhood that they could make up?

Serena came to a stop in front of her mother and glanced up into her face with a tearful expression. Then, after taking a deep breath to try and calm herself, she pulled her mother into a light hug. The older woman's eyes widened in shock and left her completely speechless, not even able to return the hug.

"I really thought that I would never be able to look at you the same way Ash looks at Delia. But meeting Ash again made me realize that the past isn't important if it makes us lose sight of the future. Even if the sky is clouded, it will sooner or later break up to reveal a shining sun." Here, Serena made a pause. Since when did she sound so... philosophic? Well, at least it sounded good. "So when I get back from my journey, I will give you one last chance. Right now, I just want to focus on my journey."

Finally, Grace was able to shake herself out of her stupor. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and held her close, relishing in the feeling of hugging her once again, something she hadn't done in a very long time.

"I don't need another chance. I just need to know that you will be coming back here one more time before going off somewhere else." she said with shaking voice.

Serena smiled slightly as she broke the hug, tears still running down her cheeks.

"Of course I'll come home. And I will give you that last chance no matter if you want it or not, because I still want to feel like I am your daughter at least one time before I grow up." Serena whispered, as she dried her tears on her collar.

This caused a smile to grace Grace's lips. She still had tears running down her cheeks, but now they were tears of relief, rather than the tears of emotional agony she had spilt just a few moments ago.

"In that case, I promise I will be waiting here to overwhelm you with love, once you are back. I got 15 years to make up for!"

Serena almost laughed at that comment. Somewhere deep inside of her, she felt a tattered part of her heart heal as she and her mother made up after many years of trying to cover up their differences. Ash had been right, it was much better to forgive and forget than to keep living in the past and dwell on things you couldn't change.

"Thanks mom. I'll be sure to call you when we reach Santalune City!" Serena said as she gave her mother one last hug and then ran off to catch up with Brock and Ash.

Behind her, Grace placed one hand over her heart as she watched her daughter run off. She had grown into such a wonderful young woman. What had she done to deserve such a wonderful daughter? She felt proud that despite the limited attention she had gotten from her, Serena still had turned out to be such a kind and forgiving person. And somehow, she felt like she owed a lot of that to a certain raven-haired Pokemon Trainer that was probably waiting for her daughter at the end of this very route. It would seem that despite all of her mistakes, she had made one good thing when she sent Serena to Professor Oak's Pokemon Summer School, despite the girl not wanting to go there. '_You better take good care of my daughter Ash. On this journey... and afterwards.' _she thought as she turned around to start her walk back to Vaniville Town.

**-X-X-X-**

Ash glanced over his shoulder as he and Brock made their way through Route 2. It would appear as if it would be a while before Serena caught up with them. After having spent 3 days in her company, he had begun to really worry about these strange feelings he had whenever she was close. He had wanted to ask Brock about it, but hadn't found the space he needed to do it. Now however, it looked like the opportunity had finally presented itself.

"Hey Brock? Can I ask you a question?" he asked.

The older boy glanced over at his friend with a curious look as he nodded. After watching Ash interact with Serena for 3 days, he could guess what had been so important for Ash to keep private between them that he had waited this long to ask about, but he wanted the boy to confirm it before he answered.

"Well, I was just... wondering... how does it feel to be in love?" he asked, immediately feeling his cheeks flushing in embarrassment for asking such a stupid question. "I-I mean, you seem to know a lot about it, seeing as you always declare your love for every young woman you meet. Ehm... I'm just curious as to how it feels." he stammered, trying to make sense of his own words.

Brock blinked in confusion, before the words Ash had said finally clicked together in his mind and he burst out laughing. Ash glared at him, but didn't say anything. He knew all too well he had just made a complete fool out of himself. On his shoulder, Pikachu's ears twitched as he looked at the older teen in confusion. When Brock had finally calmed down, he smirked at Ash and said:

"Oh, so you're technically asking me to confirm that you may like Serena as more than a friend, eh?" Brock rolled his eyebrows suggestively and poked Ash's ribs with his elbow to strengthen his point.

Stumbling over his own feet at Brock's suggestion, Ash almost fell to the ground in shock. Say WHAT?! That was utterly ridiculus! He was just curious as to what love felt like! How could he not be after having travelled through 4 regions with Brock and still not knowing? It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he suddenly found that Serena's hair smelled heavenly and that her embrace suddenly caused his inside to feel like it was dancing jitterbug! Wait, what was that thought?! Gah!

"I don't know what you're talking about!" he stubbornly exclaimed and turned to look anywhere but in Brock's direction, causing Pikachu to facefault on his shoulder. Why had he even asked this stupid question?

Trying to hide his snickers at Ash's reaction, Brock put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, there's nothing to be ashamed of! We all grow up sometime. To be honest, I am surprised it took you this long to start finding an interest in girls." he said, causing Ash to give in and look over at him again.

Ash didn't know what to think. Well, that was kind of the reason he had asked. He had heard many times that when you were in love, you would know it. But then how come he didn't? It sure felt special to be with Serena. She had changed a lot over the years and Ash found that he liked the new Serena, even the part of her that broke down and cried on his shoulder. That in itself was strange because when they were children, he had always just rolled his eyes at her when she did that. But now, it felt good to be able to be there for her in that way, even if it meant sitting with her an entire night just talking and comforting her. And then, there was that strange, warm feeling that always spread through his chest when they hugged. It was nothing like the indifference he used to feel whenever she hugged him in the past. It made him feel complete in a way that even winning the Lily of the Valley Conference had managed to make him feel. Not to mention that strange urge that had overcome him yesterday that had caused him to go through an hour of trouble just to buy her a hat, because he remembered she used to like wearing hats.

"It's just so strange. I never used to feel like this during our childhood so what is it that is so different?" he sighed out loud. Realizing that he had actually spoken the words, he quickly covered his mouth with his hands, but Brock just nodded knowingly at him.

"Well, I think the main difference is that you have both matured since then. Both of you have grown up and are now entering puberty. And to top it off, you have missed each other for 7 years." Brock said with a thoughtful look on his face while he was stroking his chin.

Ash frowned. Grown up? _He _had grown up? He hadn't noticed but thinking back towards the start of his journey, he guessed that he probably had. He never boasted about his badges to a random passing trainer anymore and he never made the mistake of pulling Pikachu by the tail anymore... Well, that probably wasn't what Brock meant, but at least it was something. And Serena had definetely grown up. Both mentally and physically... _'Stop right there Ash! Don't think about that now! Keep your head straight!' _he thought as he felt himself blush as he remembered the feeling of being hugged against Serena's soft, buddling chest. He shook his head to clear it of the embarrassing thoughts.

As he brought himself back to reality, he found that they had already reached the end of Santalune Forest. They had said that they would wait for Serena here so without a word, Ash dropped his backpack onto the ground and sat down in the grass, pulling out a bottle of water. Brock followed his example.

"Listen Ash, I don't think anyone can really tell you what you are supposed to do in this situation. But if you want to find out what you are truly feeling towards her, I think you should give it a go." Brock said as he leaned back against a tree trunk and released Croagunk from his Pokeball. Normally, he would not let out any Pokemon for such a short pause, but he knew Croagunk wouldn't run away so it couldn't really hurt to let his partner get some fresh air. And just as he thought, Croagunk just sat on the ground, breathing calmly and scanning his surroundings for anything interesting to look at.

Ash however, was not breathing calmly. He had sat up straight like a spike when Brock had put forward his suggestion.

"W-what do you mean "give it a go"? Like... a go as in asking her... well, asking her to..." he didn't finish his sentence, knowing full well that Brock knew what he was talking about.

Seeing the look on his friend's face, Brock had to muster up all his willpower to keep himself from bursting out laughing again. If he were to get anything through to Ash, then he would need to keep an at least decently serious tone to the conversation.

"Well yeah. Just ask her out. The worst that can happen is that any of you find that you didn't like it and you just go back to being friends." Brock said with a shrugg.

Ash facefaulted at how easy Brock made it sound, but took the time to seriously consider what he had been told. If it really was as easy as Brock made it sound, then no harm would come from them at least trying. Well, the thought of spending an evening alone with Serena just talking and eating delicious food certainly did seem apealing to him at the moment.

"Oh, so kind of like it was with you and Professor Ivy then? You gave it a try and then just returned to being friends?" he said, trying to get a clear picture off how it could turn out.

Brock however, suddenly found himself lying straight on the ground, twitching in limbs and with his mouth open in a comical gesture and anime tears running down his cheeks. '_Why did he have to bring that up?' _he silently cursed Ash for reminding him of his failed proposal to the beautiful Professor back in the Orange Islands. Ash facefaulted at this.

'_Ok, so not like Brock and Professor Ivy then.' _he thought as he looked down at his friend, who seemed to have a storm cloud hanging over his head at the moment. Croagunk croaked and made his way over to his trainer and began to pull him away to hide him behind a tree until he had regained normal functionality, causing Pikachu to sweatdrop.

Ash however, was already deep in thought again. Was he ready for this? He had never even spared a girl a thought in this kind of matter. It had all just come so fast and unnexpected. Did he like Serena as more than a friend? That was all he had wanted the answer for but this talk with Brock had triggered more questions than it had answered. Perhaps the best thing he could do was to try and talk to Serena about it? Not openly of course, but just sit down and talk and see if maybe there was a chance that she was experiencing this same strange phenomenon that he was. No date and no straight questions. Just the two of them talking over a coffee or something like that. Yeah, that was probably a better option than asking her out. Asking for a date out of the blue would probably just freak her out. It sure would freak him out...

"Hey guys!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Ash looked up to find Serena running towards them. Smiling, he stood up and went to meet her. All that weird, complicated stuff could wait. Screw love or whatever it was he was feeling. Right now, all that mattered was that they got their journey underway. A journey where they would finally travel together as friends, just like they had dreamed of as kids. In both their minds, it didn't matter at the moment if it would be done as normal best friends or if it would be done as boyfriend and girlfriend. All that mattered as they entered Santalune Forest along with Brock was that their journey together finally started. A journey that was supposed to have started 5 years ago in Kanto, had now instead started in Kalos, 5 years later.

* * *

**A/N: **_So there we go! Another chapter! I'm sorry if the part with Serena and her mother was a little messed up. I had originally written about 4k words about it alone, but then my chromebook messed it up for me and I lost it all and had to re-write it. The end result was not as good as the original, but I couldn't seem to manage to re-create it the same way I had done it the first time. If my high school wouldn't charge me for more than I could pay, I would have almost been ready to throw my chromebook out the window..._

_Anyway, I hope that the chapter is still readable and that it isn't too confusing. I don't think I need to put up Pokemon listings for this chapter as no one actually battled in it. But for a quick sum of it, Ash got Charizard and Pikachu in his belt, Brock have Croagunk and Serena have Fennekin. _

**Oakdex of the day:** Yamask: Gen V/ Gen 5 -entries

Black: _"Each of them carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry."_

White/BW2: _"These Pokemon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves. They each retains memories of their former life."_

Oakdex: People say that Cubone's pokedex entires are depressing because they all state that it mourns its dead mother... but check this out folks, here we got a pokemon that is mourning ITS OWN death. How depressing isn't that? And to top it off, they used to be humans! How does that go with the whole Pokemon Trainer thing? So if I catch a Yamask, I might have caught a deceased pokemon trainer? It makes absolutely no sense, especially as the White&BW2 entires clearly states that they remember their previous life as a human... Imagine this, you get hit by a car one day and dies at the hospital, only to wake up as a Yamask... how depressing doesn't that sound? Sure, I've heard about humans being reborn as animals when I studied Karma and Hinduism, but this is just sad... And how would you feel, if you had been reborn as a Yamask, to be captured by another Pokemon trainer? Or if you met any of your old friends or your own Pokemon? I don't even want to think about that...

_**Cont. A/N: **And there we got our Oakdex for today. There will be no Top 10 in this chapter as I still haven't decided which one to do next. I got some interesting ones coming up though. The one you guys wanted to see the most was "My Top 10 Worst things in the Anime", so that one will probably be among the first. And as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even if I personally feel like I have written better chapters in my days. But please, leave a review so I know what you think! _


	9. First Catches

**A/N: **_Hello guys, and welcome back to a new chapter of Serene Phoenix! Before we start, I wanna thank you all for your support so far and give a huge shout out for the new poll in my profile, asking you if Ash should catch a legendary. Details can be found in end of chapter AN or in the poll._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: **First Catches

Ash sighed contently as he leaned back in his seat and patted his stomach. There was nothing that could meassure up to Brock's cooking, with the possible exception of his mom's. Looking back now, he found himself wondering how he had managed to go an entire year without it while he was in Unova. No offense to Cilan, but no matter how great a cook he thought himself to be he simply wasn't in the same league as Brock. And judging by the content sigh of the yellow rodent that was lying beside him, the same could be said about his pokemon food.

Beside the raven-haired trainer, Serena was yawning drowsily and strecthing out her limbs to lie down in the clearing they had picked for their lunch break. They had barely gone a few hours into the Santalune Forest when Ash's stomach had begun making funny noises and reminded them that they had eaten a very early breakfast. So they had stopped and Brock had immediately taken to cooking a deliscious stew. Serena had to admit that she was impressed with the man's cooking. She liked to think that she was a pretty decent cook herself, but after eating Brock's stew it was easy to tell the difference between an amateur like her and a near professional like Brock. She hadn't felt this stuffed after a meal for ages. But stuffing yourself came with a price, which was beginning to settle in on her in the form of some mid-day sleepyness.

"I think I'm going for a nap guys. Is that ok with you?" she yawned out as she stretched out on the ground and relaxed, letting her drowsiness overcome her.

Brock cast a glance at her. That really did look comfortable and now that she mentioned it, a mid-day nap didn't sound too bad right now. However, he wanted to be done with the dishes before he began to relax.

"Sounds good to me. I'll probably join you in a few minutes. I just need to do the dishes and I'll be right there. How about you Ash?" Brock asked, looking over at the young trainer who had just stood up from his seat.

"No thanks. If you guys are going for a nap, I think I'd rather try and train a little bit or try to catch a new Pokemon. I'm too psyched to be able to relax." Ash exclaimed excitedly as he lifted Pikachu off the ground and began walking over towards their other Pokemon, that was resting in the shadow of a tree.

Or well, they weren't really resting as they all were up to something. Croagunk was sitting on the ground, as usual, and wasn't doing anything in particular but at least he was sitting with the rest of their Pokemon, which was a definite improvement from his behavior in Sinnoh when he would sit at any random spot, usually the same one he landed on when he was released from his Pokeball. Charizard was leaning down towards the ground, trying to strike up a conversation with Fennekin. Serena's starter Pokemon had originally sat down as far away as it could from the mighty Dragon-like Pokemon, but had gradually inched closer as it noticed that Charizard wasn't as terrifying as he looked. However, there was one little fellow that seemed to not feel completely welcome in their little group. Off to the side, Chespin was sitting by himself and looked like a lost little school kid. Ash had insisted that they release Chespin as well, even though he didn't belong to any of them, as Chespin was still their responsability as long as they didn't hand him back to Professor Sycamore. Brock had agreed and so Chespin had found himself sitting with the rest of the gang. As it knew Fennekin since before the two Kalos Starters had kept a little to themselves but seeing as Fennekin had now engaged in a conversation with its fellow Fire-type, Chespin had been left alone.

Ash frowned as he made his way over to the little grass-type. He felt a little bad for the little guy. Seeing as Serena had picked Fennekin and Shauna picked Froakie, Chespin had been left without anyone wanting him. Being the last one to be picked never felt good, Ash knew that from experience. So instead of walking over to his own Pokemon, Ash made his way over to Chespin and sat down beside him.

"Hey little buddy, how's it going?" he asked cheerfully.

The little mole/otter-like pokemon looked up at him with surprise, as if it hadn't expected him to come over and talk to him. Well, he probably hadn't expected it for real, so that might have contributed to the look of surprise that seemed to be plastered onto its face.

"Come on, why don't you go over and sit with the others and talk a little? I was thinking of taking Charizard with me into the forest to try and catch a new Pokemon so why don't you go over there and talk a little with Fennekin or Croagunk?" as he said this, Pikachu tapped his shoulder and shook his head as he pointed over towards the other three Pokemon. Ash frowned, but when his eyes fell on Croagunk, he sweatdropped as he understood what Pikachu was trying to say. "Ok, so maybe not Croagunk then, but at least you can talk to Fennekin. How does that sound?"

However, to his great surprise, Chespin shook his head at this. When Ash frowned at this, Chespin stood up and pointed, first at Fennekin, then over at Serena who was half asleep over by her spot, then back again. The gears turned in Ash's mind for a few mintutes, but after a while he managed to figure it out. Chespin did not want to keep Fennekin busy, as he felt it might intrude on the Fire starter's interaction and bonding with its new trainer. Surprised and a little impressed with the little Spiky Nut Pokemon's perceptiveness and nobility, Ash looked back down at Chespin that had sat down in the grass again.

"Ches..." it said, with a hint of sadness in its voice as it looked longingly at Serena.

Of course, Ash thought. That's why it feels so left out.

"Hey, don't worry about it, ok? Some day, I'm sure you will get a great trainer as well. It's only a matter of time." Ash tried to cheer the little grass type up.

But Chespin just shook its head and turned away. Why would it not think anyone would want it? From what the Pokedex had said, Chespin was an awesome pokemon and if it hadn't been for the fact that he was supposed to be a starter for a new trainer, Ash would have wanted to catch him then and there. But then, it clicked into place in Ash's mind. When a new trainer have picked his or her starter, the other two that didn't get picked had to wait for another trainer to come by and hope that it would pick them. It was possible that this Chespin had been bypassed by a lot of new trainers that preferred to pick a Froakie or Fennekin instead. That would certainly explain why Chespin was acting this way.

Equiped with this new knowledge, Ash tried to think of a way he could help Chespin get a little better self confidence. It wouldn't get a trainer by looking like this. Trainers wanted energic Pokemon, and Chespin looked everything _but _energic. But how could he do that? How did you make a Pokemon that thought it was worthless believe that it wasn't worthless. By proving that it was not worthless! But how did you do that? Hm...

"I got it!" Ash exclaimed and snapped his fingers as realization came upon him.

This attracted the attention of both Pikachu and Chespin, both of whom looked up at Ash with surprised glances.

"How about you come with me into the forest to catch a new Pokemon, Chespin? It would certainly be a better option than using Charizard and risk setting the entire forest on fire. And it will give you an opportunity to shape up, so you will be in top form when your trainer comes around and picks you!" he explained his idea to the two Pokemon in front of him.

Both of them looked stunned at the idea, Pikachu because he thought that for once Ash had actually come up with a good idea, and Chespin because Ash had said he wanted his help.

Other than actually being a good way to cheer Chespin up, Ash had also presented a good reason not to go with Charizard. While using a stronger Pokemon would certainly increase the chance of being able to catch something stronger without much trouble, Charizard wasn't in his element and using too much fire would greatly risk setting the whole forest on fire. Chespin on the other hand was a Grass type. He would have home field advantage in the vegetation and would have no trouble fighting at full strenght. To top it off, Chespin was more likely to be pumped up to fight the smaller Pokemon that lived in the forest.

So after spending a few minutes convincing Chespin to go, Ash made his way into the forest with Pikachu and Chespin sitting on each of his shoulders. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he guessed there would be a lot of new pokemon he hadn't seen before in here. Forests were always filled with life and to find a good pokemon would be no problem!

"Alright, so here's what we'll do. I managed to snatch some of the leftovers from today's Pokemon Lunch. It's Brock's home made so it is sure to gather at least some pokemon so all we have to do is find a clearing where we'll dump it and then go hide until something interesting comes around. Does that sound ok?" he asked and received a collective nod from Pikachu and Chespin. The little grass type seemed to have cheered up at the prospect of actually doing something productive.

Once they had set up their little "trap", the trio climbed up into a tree that was closeby to hide from view amongst the leaves. They had barely made it out of sight before the first pokemon arrived in the clearing below, having smelt the delicious bait. Ash recognized it from his journey in Unova. The small brown rodent pokemon was known as Patrat. The rodent took a few moments to sniff the pile of pokemon food before heistantly digging into the free meal. Immediately after seeing that something had walked into their trap, Chespin extended 2 vines from its neck, courtesy of his signature Vine Whip move, and looked ready to jump down on the rodent any minute. However, Ash held out his hand to kee Chespin from attacking. He had seen lots of Patrats and even tis evolved form, Watchog, in Unova and he hadn't had any interest in catching one there and so far, that lack of interest in the rodent hadn't changed. He wanted to catch something he hadn't seen before, something that was unique to Unova.

And to do that, they waited. A few more minutes passed and a lot of different pokemon came to the clearing to get a taste of their bait. Most were familiar to Ash, like Zigzagoon, Rattata, Fletchling (he recognized it as the same little bird that Serena's mom had) and Pidgey. There had also been some Pokemon Ash knew since earlier but still had been tempted to catch, like a Pansear that had found its way there, but he had held off, sensing that soon there would come something a lot more useful.

Both Chespin and Pikachu had sweatdropped when a wild Pikachu had arrived at the scene and Ash had shouted to it to "not eat the bait", believing it to be his own Pikachu. Embarrassed by his slip, Ash decided to remain silent for the rest of their little hunt. Having scared away the pokemon currently in the clearing with his outburst, Ash sighed and just leaned back against the trunk, thinking it would be a little while before any new Pokemon dared to come out after his outburst. But barely had he leant back and relaxed before Pikachu gave a surprised "Pika!" and waved him over. Frowning, Ash climbed over to where the two Pokemon were looking down into the clearing with their eyes glued on something.

There, having just landed by the bait that was now almost all eaten up, a red bird sat and munched happily on the pokefood. A Fletchling? No, it was a lot bigger than the smaller birds and its appearence was different. Curious about this new bird, Ash pulled out his pokedex.

"_Fletchinder, the Ember Pokemon. Fletchinder is the evolved form of Fletchling. Using its beak to shoot flames, Fletchinder have been known to set grasses on fire to lure out its prey. The hotter the flame sac on its belly gets, the faster it can fly. "_

_'A Fire and Flying type, huh?' _Ash thought. Interesting. He already had one fire/flying pokemon in Charizard but to be honest, Charizard's moveset was more that of a pure Fire type or a Fire/Dragon Pokemon. And Fire/Flying in itself was a very rare combination. Charizard was probably the only Pokemon Ash knew for sure to be that typing... well, he suspected that Ho-oh was Fire/Flying, considering that tales told of its Sacred Fire and of course there was Moltres, but those 2 hardly counted in Ash's mind.

As he looked down on the Ember Pokemon, Ash considered if this would be a worthwile catch. Fletchinder would surely be a good addition to the team, especially considering that he had left Staraptor at Professor Oak's Lab and Swellow was still resting there... but sending Chespin out against a Fire and Flying type might not be the best option. On the other hand, he really wanted Fletchinder but telling Chespin to stay back, now that he had finally managed to get the little mole/otter-like pokemon to regain some of its lost self-confidence and self-esteem would probably hurt it even more and send it back into depression. He couldn't let that happen. Looking at the little Grass type's determined face, Ash slowly pulled out Chespin's Pokeball and held it close to his Pokedex, allowing him to scan his moves.

'_Hm... Chespin knows Tackle, Vine Whip, Synthesis and Leech Seed... Not bad for a starter Pokemon, but all in all, he is pretty grass themed and got no natural counters against neither fire nor flying... '_

However, seeing the look of excitement on Chespin's face, Ash just didn't have the heart to deny him this chance to prove himself. Ash sighed. There really was only one thing to do in this situation...

"Let's go Chespin! Use Tackle on that Fletchinder!" Ash called. Behind him on the branch, Pikachu sweat dropped. Yup, Ash was still as reckless as ever.

Chespin however wasted no time and threw himself off the branch and towards the bird Pokemon. He had been practically shaking with excitement at the promise of being sent into battle. This was his chance to prove himself!

Having not expected the attack, Fletchinder barely had time to look up from his lunch before he got hit in the face by Chespin. He was tossed back from the impact and landed painfully a few feet away from the small pile of food he had been munching on. Stumbling to his feet, Fletchinder gave off an irritated cry and glared over at Chespin, who had landed a few feet in the other direction. Knowing that he had the advantage of types and mobility, Fletchinder wasted no time in spreading his wings and take to the air.

Seeing that Fletchinder had taken the hit without as much as a scratch, Ash immediately began to think if maybe he should have been more careful about how he approached the flying type. As long as Fletchinder was in the air, Chespin couldn't hit it because he didn't have any long range attacks.

Fletchinder dove towards Chespin, who did his best to jump out of the way, but couldn't quite manage it and was hit by the super effective move. Ash gritted his teeth as he recognized the move that Fletchinder had just used. _Aerial Ace. _This really wasn't good. Aerial Ace was a move that was almost impossible to avoid as the target didn't get a clear view of the user as they disappeared from sight due to the high speed at which it was performed. His own Staraptor knew the move and it was only in rare circumstances that he missed with it. And to top it off, it was a Flying-type move so it was super effective against a Grass-type like Chespin. He was beginning to think that maybe they were in over their heads this time.

Chespin gave a pained cry as he felt Fletchinder's beak dig into his side and was sent flying from the impact. He landed harshly on the ground, but quickly got up. He wouldn't go down that easy! This was the first time ever someone believed in him! He would show Ash that his faith was not misplaced! Therefore, he shook off the numb feeling that had inserted itself at the point of impact and turned to face Fletchinder again. The bird pokemon raised an eyebrow at this, not having expected the little grass type to get up after that, but nonetheless swooped down to go in for another hit.

Meanwhile, Ash was frantically trying to come up with a way to hit Fletchinder. All Chespin's attack moves were close range, so the only way he could hit Fletchinder as it was now was to hit him when he swooped in to attack and sending Chespin to counter that Aerial Ace with a simple Tackle would be like asking for trouble. And he would need to think of something quick, because it looked like Fletchinder wanted to finish this quickly.

"Chespin! Try grabbing ahold of Fletchinder with Vine Whip!" Ash called from his position up in the tree.

Chespin heard Ash and immediately complied with his order, trusting the trainer to have a plan of some sort. As Fletchinder came closer, Chespin narrowed his eyes, trying to find the perfect timing to grab onto the Flying-type. However, when Fletchinder vanished from sight and in his place, 5 Fletchinders swooped down on Chespin, confusing the little Otter/Mole-like Pokemon, who didn't know which one to attack. Ash swore under his breath.

"Wha-?! Double Team?! Chespin, look out!"

Too late. The five Fletchinders swooped down onto Chespin and all rammed into it. However, none of them made contact and when Chespin, who had tried to shield its head with its hands, looked up again, his view was just cleared from the fakes to see the real Fletchinder swoop down towards him, covered in flames. Too starled to react, Fletchinder rammed into Chespin full force and sent him flying, leaving him with burn marks where the attack had hit. Up in the tree, Ash swore once again as he recognized even this move. '_Flame Charge too? This Fletchinder is either very experienced or it must have had a trainer before.' _he thought as he saw Chespin being tossed across the clearing once again and land harshly on the ground. This was starting to look very, very bad.

**-X-X-X-**

Back in their little makeshift camp, Serena had just woken up from her nap. Brock was still asleep so she decided not to wake him up and instead stood up and walked over to where their Pokemon were sitting. She relished the feeling of being able to do what she wanted. All her life, she had always just listened to others but now she was free to make her own descisions. Sure, it had been her own descision to be friends with Ash and always hang out with him, but she had always felt that when it really came down to it, her mother had always been the one to do the deciding. Of course, that was how it was supposed to be between a parent and child, but it still was an thrilling feeling to be able to make all descisions by herself.

As she sat down in the grass, Fennekin left Charizard and made his way over to her. Serena couldn't help but smile at the affection Fennekin showed towards her already. The little Fox Pokemon was leaning its head onto her lap and purred happily. To Serena, it felt almost unreal that they had become so fast friends. Speaking of friends... Ash had been gone for an awefully long time now. What could be taking him so long? Well, catching a new Pokemon might take time. She didn't really know, because she had never caught a Pokemon herself.

"Fenn!"

Hearing her little friend call out, Serena snapped out of her thoughts and looked down on her. Fennekin was looking over towards the "kitchen", apparently seeing or sensing something that shouldn't be there. Serena frowned and stood up to go check out what it could possibly be. A wild Pokemon?

"Come with me." she whispered to Fennekin and the little fire type nodded. If it really was a wild Pokemon, they could never be too careful.

Slowly, the duo made their way over towards the makeshift kitchen. When they got closer, Serena began to pick up a strange rustling sound coming from the trashcan. She felt her heartbeat fasten as she realized that it really was a wild Pokemon in there. What would she do? She had never battled before! She looked down on her partner hesistantly, silently asking if they really should get closer. Fennekin however, had a determined expression on her face and without prompting, stepped forward and let out a howl towards the trash can. Serena almost bit her tongue in shock and surprise. Well, no turning back now. Biting her lip to keep herself from shouting out to wake up Brock, Serena fixed her eyes on the trashcan and felt her heart skip a beat when it fell over to reveal... a worm?

Inside the trashcan, the thing that had been making all the noise, was a small, black larva-like Pokemon, whose head was at least 3 times as big as its body. The first thought that crossed Serena's mind when she looked at it was; _'How in the world does that thing keep its head upright?'_ It simply shouldn't be physically possible. Then, she was reminded what situation they were in and quickly snapped back to reality. Never judge your opponent because of how he looks. Even the most fragile-looking opponent could prove to be impossible to beat! That's what her mother always said. Granted, her mother had always said it when Serena had compared her own not so bulky build to other Rhyhorn Racers, but she guessed it could apply to Pokemon as well. Ash's Pikachu was supposed to be really, really strong and he looked all but threatening in any way. So why wouldn't this little... actually, what the heck was this thing? Remembering how Ash had scanned the starter Pokemon with his Pokedex, Serena pulled out her own to scan the Pokemon in front of her.

"_Scatterbug, the Scatterdust Pokemon. Scatterbug covers its body with a special powder that helps it regulate its body temperature so it can live in any climate. When it feels threatened, Scatterbug will spew a poisonous, black powder that causes paralysis on contact."_

Yeah, see? That poisonous powder definetely didn't sound like something Serena would want to be hit with. And by the looks of it, Fennekin didn't feel too eager to take a hit from that powder either, as the little Fox immediately took a step back when it heard about Scatterbug's defense mechanism. Scatterbug looked at them with its big eyes for a moment, before it turned back to the trashcan and began to dig through the leftover food that had been left after their lunch. Seeing this, Fennekin took immediate action and jumped forward and fired a small ball of fire at towards the Scatterbug, that got knocked away from the trashcan.

_'That must have been Ember, Fennekin's special move.' _Serena thought, feeling a strange sense of pride at her partner for having knocked away the creepy little bug. However, her thoughts got interrupted by the sound of stomach rumbling. It didn't sound like Ash's stomach magnitude so it couldn't be him being back... Wait, did she just think that Ash could be identified by the sound of his stomach? Yuck!

Then, with a pang of guilt, Serena realized that it had come from the Scatterbug. The little Scatterdust Pokemon had rolled over so it was on its feet again and was now looking at the trashcan longingly with its big, now tearfilled eyes.

"Scaa..." it snivled sadly.

Serena swallowed. She felt her heart reach out to the little Bug-type. It was just hungry. And those big, begging eyes... How could she deny it food when it looked at her like that? She sighed. If she wasn't completly wrong, they had a big barrell with Brock's Pokemon food in Brock's backpack. Perhaps, just a few bits wouldn't hurt? She didn't want to go behind the others' back, but would they really blame her for feeding a hungry Pokemon?

"Fennekin, stand down." Serena said when she noticed that her partner had inched closer towards the now terryfied Scatterbug.

The little Fox Pokemon stopped and looked up at her with a questioning look. Serena cast a sideway glance at the Scatterbug, that looked just as surprised as Fennekin, then turned back to face her partner.

"I don't think Scatterbug wants to hurt us. It's just hungry. Would you mind go and get one of the bowls that Brock put on drying?" she asked.

It couldn't be more obvious that Fennekin was shocked at this sudden change of attitude towards Scatterbug, but she did as she was told, not wanting to disobey Serena. She trusted that her trainer knew what she was doing. After all, it was the trainers that were supposed to guide the Pokemon, not the other way around. While Fennekin went over to get the bowl, Serena tried to put on her best smile to hide her insecurity about her descision and waved Scatterbug over. The little Bug Pokemon slowly and hesistantly began to move over towards her. When it was just in front of her, Serena pointed her hands on the ground and told it to wait there, while she went over to Brock's backpack to get the food. As they had just used it half an hour ago, it was on top in his backpack and Serena could easily extract it without messing up the rest of his packing.

When Serena came back, she saw that Fennekin had already gotten the bowl. The little Fox was now studying Scatterbug suspiciously, but it didn't do anything. Scatterbug didn't seem to be particularly bothered by the firefox sniffing at it from all possible angles, as it had its eyes locked on Serena, or more specifically, the food barrell. Hoping she was doing the right thing, Serena filled the bowl to about half and put it front of Scatterbug, who dug in immediately. Yup, she had been right. Scatterbug had been starving, if the way it munched down the Pokemon food was any indication. Its table manners were almost as bad as Ash's!

Fennekin gave Scatterbug one last calculating look, but then seemed to relax as it came to the same conclussion as Serena. This Pokemon was not dangerous. It was just a lonely little bug that hadn't gotten anything to eat in a while. Now that she wasn't suspicious of the little bug anymore, Fennekin walked up to the eating pokemon and introduced itself by saying its own name (well, in Serena's ears, Fennekin didn't say much else). Seeing that Scatterbug made a little pause in its meal to answer Fennekin and then the smile that graced Fennekin's lips, Serena breathed a sigh of relief and went over to sit down next to them. The lump that had gathered in her chest when she had first noticed the little bug was now completely gone and in its place was a warm, comfortable feeling spreading. The feelings you get when you know you have done something right.

**-X-X-X-**

"Chespin, use Synthesis to heal yourself!"

Unlike his childhood friend, Ash was having trouble with the Pokemon he was interracting with. Fletchinder had proven to be all but an easy opponent. He was now almost completely sure that this Fletchinder had been owned by another trainer at some point, because it was way too advanced in tactics to be a simple wild Pokemon. It had expertedly used the area to its advantage, by constantly attacking from an angle that made it impossible for Chespin to look at it or else he would be blinded by the sun. Ash had only ever seen really skilled trainers use that tactic. Also, Fletchinder had opted to stay in the clearing when Ash had tried to make use of Chespin's vines to climb and jump between trees to make up for its mobility disadvantage, knowing full well that it was Ash that was the attacker in this battle, not him. So far, Ash had managed to identify 4 of its moves. There was the three ones it had used by the start of the battle, and then it apparently knew Razor Wind for long range combat. However, it had only used that move once as it apparently preferred the "Double Team Swipe", as Ash had dubbed it when Fletchinder would use Double Team to confuse Chespin and blind it temporarily so it could approach and strike with either Aerial Ace or Flame Charge. It was a really impressive tactic that Ash would really like to try out with his own Flying-type sometime.

Hearing Ash's command, the bruised and weak Chespin's head began to glow in a yellowish light, as he began to absorb solar energy to heal most of its damage. However, he was tired and using Synthesis was not helping him restore his energy. Fletchinder knew this. It was only a matter of time before the Ember Pokemon would swoop in for the finishing blow. Frankly, it was an amazing feat to have lasted this long under the assault of Super Effective Attacks from a much stronger and more experienced Pokemon.

Ash bit his lip as he desperately tried to think of a way to get Chespin out of this. He had already tried to get rid of Chespin's disadvantages, but Fletchinder had made it clear that he knew just how to counter that and was determined to keep the advantages he had over the grass-type. However, as Ash was staring at Chespin's glowing head, he remembered something. Chepin had knocked him out by hitting its head against his. What was it the Pokedex had said? _"The shell on its head and back is hard enough to enable it to take a direct hit from a truck without flinching?"_ Yeah, something along those lines. Thinking back, Fletchinder had never hit Chespin on the head or the back. It had always swopped down on him and hit him from the side or from the front. But how could they use this information? C'mon Ketchum! Think, THINK!

As Ash was thinking up another plan to try and get in a hit at Fletchinder, Chespin had finished its regeneration and was now following Fletchinder with a watchful gaze as the bird flew around the area. Just then, Fletchinder decided that it was time to end this and sped up, courtesy of Aerial Ace and dove towards Chespin.

"Chespin! Curl up into a ball and harden your shell!" Ash called, desperately hoping this would work. If it didn't he could kiss Fletchinder and Chespin's remaining self-confidence good bye.

Just as Fletchinder was about to hit Chespin, the grass-type starter curled up into a ball, protecting itself by using its shell. Fletchinder rammed into the hardened ball head first, but unlike the previous times it dropped to the ground afterwards. That hit had hurt a lot, and Fletchinder felt its head ringing from the impact. What the heck was that shell made of?! Stumbling to get back on its feet, Fletchinder found that he felt dizzy from ramming so hard into Chespin's shell and couldn't quite manage to stand upright. Meanwhile, Chespin uncurled from its defensive position, seemingly unharmed. It had worked!

"YES! That's it! Hit it with Leech Seed, now!" Ash shouted, pumping his fist into the air.

Chespin, feeling proud to finally have inflicted some damage on his opponent, smirked before he opened his mouth and spit a large, glowing green seed from his mouth. The Leech Seed hit Fletchinder's back and immediately began to spread its vines over the birds body, effectively immobilizing it and unabling its usage of its wings. Fletchinder cried out in pain from the harsh treatment and not more than a few seconds later, a sphere of energy emerged from the point where Leech Seed had hit him and travelled over to Chespin, healing a little bit of damage from the grass type and restoring some of its lost energy.

"Great! Now, let's do this! Chespin, try to Tackle it using your shell!" Ash called.

The little grass type gave a curt nod, before it curled up into a ball again and began rolling towards the immobilized Fletchinder. Seeing what Chespin was doing, Ash and Pikachu sweatdropped.

'_That's not Tackle... That's Rollout... Wait, Chespin just learned Rollout? Awesome!'_ Ash thought.

Seeing the incoming projectile, Fletchinder tried desperately to free himself from the vines that was holding it, but to no avail. His wings were strapped together and he couldn't move them at all. Unable to escape, Fletchinder braced himself for the impact and cried out in pain when the 4x Super Effective move hit him. Realizing that Rollout was in fact a Rock-type move and as such would be ridiculusly effective (he still remembered how hard Dusk's Garchomp had hit Charizard with Stone Edge), Ash saw his chance and turned his cap backwards, causing Pikachu to sweatdrop again. Since when had Ash taken up that old habit again?

"This is my chance! Go! Pokeball!" Ash shouted as he threw the red and white object at the still struggling Bird Pokemon.

The Pokeball hit its mark and ejected a red beam of light, sucking the Ember Pokemon inside before closing. Ash stared intently on the ball, holding his breath as it began to roll around wildly. Obviously, Fletchinder was fighting back hard. 1...2...3...4...5...6... dammit! How many times would it roll before it could be done and over with?! 7...8...9...10...11...ding! As the sound of a confirmed capture was heard throughout the clearing, Ash let out the breath he had been holding. They had done it! It had actually worked! Looking over towards Chespin, he found the little Grass-type sitting on the ground, grinning like an idiot. But it couldn't be more obvious how happy he felt that he had actually managed to pull that off. Ash couldn't help but grin himself as he made his way over to the Pokeball and picked it up.

"Alright! I just caught... A **Fletchinder**!" he shouted as he pumped his pokeball-holding fist into the air.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed as he jumped into the picture, making the "V for Victory-sign".

Chespin just sat on the ground, grinning. He was so happy that he had done something right. After all the times he had been overlooked in favour of other starter Pokemon, he had begun to wonder if there was something wrong with him. But there wasn't. Not only had he managed to take on a much more experienced Pokemon, but that Pokemon had a double type advantagea against him! How many starter Pokemon could boast with that? Take that, Froakies and Fennekins in the Kalos region!

Now, there was just that matter of getting back to the camp...

**-X-X-X-**

Back in the camp, Brock had woken up and found Serena sitting in the open clearing, watching Fennekin play happily with a Scatterbug. As he heated some hot chocolate for them, Serena told him about how they had met Scatterbug and how she and Fennekin had become such good friends with it. Brock had listened with interest and complimented her for her caution, though he did tell her that most wild Pokemon only acted violently if they felt threatened. However,as soon as he was done, they had began to grow worried. Ash still wasn't back and he had been gone for a lot longer than they had thought he would be. And both had come to the same conclussion: he was lost in the forest. Shaking his head in disappointment, Brock kindly asked Charizard to fly away and bring back his lost trainer, to which the Flame Pokemon had agreed with an amused, toothy grin.

"One would think that after 5 years on the road, he had grown some kind of sense of direction, but no." Brock groaned as he sat down again after having packed up the camp.

Serena just giggled in amusement at her childhood friend and crush's apparent lack of growth in that department. She remembered that he had managed to find his way in the forests around Pallet, but also that he had a tendency to get lost when he was in areas he had never been in before. To her, that was not nescesarily a bad thing. She felt it should, but for some reason it just amused her, even felt reassuring in a way, knowing that he still was the same Ash she used to know.

"Well, he can't be good at everything, can he?" she asked rethorically.

Brock just sighed at that and shook his head.

"I guess not, but still. 5 years and he still hasn't learned anything about how to find his way."

Just then, a roar echoed across the clearing. The two travelling companions looked up to see Charizard descending into the clearing. On his back, he carried a sheepishly grinning Ash, a Pikachu who just shook his head at his trainer and a Chespin that looked a lot better and happier than he had when he left the clearing. As soon as they all safely had gotten their feet onto solid ground, Ash recalled Charizard after thanking him for coming to get them. When he had done that, he turned towards his friend and held up another Pokeball.

"Hey guys! Check this out, I caught a Fletchinder!" he said triumphantly.

Brock almost gave a nasty reply about Ash's navigation skills, but decided to just give his friend a shake of his head. It was no use, trying to get Ash to learn how to not get lost. If he hadn't picked it up after 5 years of constant travel, then Brock doubted that he would do it just because Brock told him to one more time.

"Well, that's great Ash!" Serena smiled at him. "And guess what? I also caught a Pokemon!"

Ash looked dumbfonded for a moment, before he noticed the litte black larva-like creature that was currently being introduced to Chespin and Pikachu by Fennekin. Realizing that she was not kidding, he smiled at her and gave her thumbs up.

"Really? That's awesome, Serena!" he said.

As Ash went over to say hi to their second newcomer, Serena felt her cheeks heat up from the praise and for once, she was glad that Ash was not paying attention to her. Her heart felt like it was swelling with pride and she immediately turned away to try and hide her reddening face.

"Alright everybody, pack up! If we hurry, we can still make it to Santalune City before nightfall!" Brock said as he swung his backpack onto his back.

Glad to have gotten something else to think about, Serena was quick to comply and mimic the action. Ash finished introducing himself to Scatterbug and recalled Chespin to his Pokeball before he did the same. After giving it some thought, Serena decided to let Fennekin stay outside her Pokeball as well, but returned Scatterbug as he would have trouble keeping up with their walking speed. Giving the clearing one last double check, the trio left and returned to the path, setting their sights on Santalune City, where Ash's first Gym Battle in the Kalos Region awaited them! But unknown to them, something... or rather, someone else also waited at the end of the road. Someone who would bring back some really bad memories to the group and one of them especially would not be happy to see the individual, who himself was not aware of their close proximity, again.

* * *

**A/N:** _Well, there we go! The journey is finally underway! Both Ash and Serena have made their first catches, although in different ways! And to all Froakie fans, just because Ash have technically gotten Chespin in this story so far doesn't mean that he won't meet Froakie as well. The Froakie that Shauna picked as her starter was not the same one as the one that appears in the anime! _

_Oh! And since a lot of you have wanted this since practically the start of the fic, I have decided to remove the 4 moves limitation and instead put up a limit of 8 moves. I agree that 4 moves is a little too few, but at the same time it would be stupid to have an infinite amount of moves. That simply isn't realistic. If you want an example, try imagine doing some tricks with a soccerball. You can learn a lot of tricks, but if you practice only a few of them, you will get rusty and maybe even find that you can no longer perform some others. But at the same time, if you try to practice all of them, you will never really learn them. This is the same thing, at least theoretically._

_So here we got todays **Pokemon Listings: **_

_**Ash Ketchum: **_

_Pikachu: Thunderbolt, Volt Tackle, Thunder, Electro Ball, Iron Tail, Quick Attack, Agility, Double Edge_

_Charizard: Flamethrower, Flare Blitz, Dragon Tail, Slash, Wing Attack, Seismic Toss, Overheat, Dragon Rage_

_Chespin: Rollout, Tackle, Leech Seed, Synthesis, Vine Whip_

_Fletchinder: Flame Charge, Razor Wind, Aerial Ace, Double Team_

**_Serena:_**

_Fennekin: Tackle, Tail Whip, Ember, Howl_

_Scatterbug: Tackle, String Shot, Stun Spore_

**_Brock:_**

_Croagunk: Poison Jab, Brick Break, Poison Sting, Acupressure, Meditate_

**_Dusk Damon:_**

_Garchomp: Dragon Rush, Draco Meteor, Stone Edge, Flamethrower, Meta Claw, Giga Impact, Dig, Earthquake_

_Darkrai: Dark Pulse, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Psychic, Dark Void, Nightmare, Dream Eater, Hyper Beam_

**_Cynthia Damon:_**

_Garchomp: Dragon Rush, Brick Break, Draco Meteor, Dig, Giga Impact, Flamethrower, Stone Edge, Hyper Beam_

_Gastrodon: Muddy Water, Stone Edge, Acid Armor, Earthquake_

_Glaceon: Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Detect, Synchronize, Ice Shard, Barrier_

**_Clemont:_**

_Heliolisk: Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse, Dragon Tail, Bulldoze, Parabolic Charge_

**_Shauna:_**

_Froakie: Bubble, Pound, Growl_

* * *

**Cont. A/N:** _And that's their current teams and movesets. Yes, I showed all the characters current teams and movesets of the Pokemon we have seen. Dusk's Mawile, Phantump and Bergmite aren't shown simply because we don't know anything about them yet, other than that he has them. And yes, I did give Dusk a surname, because I really want to give most characters surnames. It never made any sense in my mind that Ash, his mother, Samuel and Gary Oak, and Tracey Sketchit were the only ones in the entire Pokemon Universe who had a confirmed surname. I still am not sure about any other character's surnames though so if you got one that you think I should use, please tell me so. _

_And with that done, we get to another part of the ending author's note! The Oakdex! _

**Oakdex of the day: **Exeggcute: Gen VI/6 entries

X: "_Its six eggs converse using telepathy. They can quickly gather if they become sparated."_

Y: "_Even though it appears to be eggs of some sort, it was discovered to be a life-form more like plant seeds."_

Oakdex: Here we got a dude that have always bugged me, ever since I first ran into him in my old Pokemon Gold! As if it wasn't enough that it was a creepy, weird overall concept to have 6 eggs, one of which is cracked open (the one in the back), exist as a Pokemon through psychic powers, Pokedex entires throughout generations can never agree upon if these things are eggs or not! X and Y was not exception. X claims them to be eggs, while Y claim them to be seeds. I mean, c'mon! I guess I could _accept _it if it was only a matter of conflict between regions. Then it could be downplayed to different researches having resulted in different beliefs being created in different regions, but now we are literally talking about the same region! I guess we will never get an answer to this constant mystery, it is simply one of those question that will never be answered: Are Exeggcute **Eggs **or **Seeds**?!

**Cont. A/N: **_Now that I have finally been allowed to let out my hatred of Exeggcute, I want to remind you that I have put up a new poll in my profile, asking if you want Ash to catch a legendary in this fic and if you do, then which ones. I have filtered out the ones that is simply too powerful and Mewtwo is also not in the poll, becuase he will make an appearence, whether you like it or not. Please make note of that I do not say that Ash will catch him, because that have yet to be decided._

_Oh, and sorry about this chapters lack of amourshipping! XD_

_And with that, we put an end to Chapter 9 of Serena Phoenix. Now, can we make it past my HP story in reviews? It stands on 191 reviews currently and this one stands on 166! Come on, you can do it guys! All that is needed is a very small effort from you! And with that, Mr Oakzzz signs out for tonight! =)_


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